The National Unity Platform (NUP) last week issued an ultimatum of seven days to Mathias Mpuuga, the former leader of the Opposition, to defend himself or step down from the position of Parliamentary Commissioner.
Mpuuga has been accused of receiving a “good service award” of Shs500 million from Parliament, leading to allegations of corruption and abuse of office.Recently, the NUP requested Mpuuga, who is also the deputy president of the Buganda region, to resign from his role as parliamentary commissioner. Mpuuga, however, said last week that he would not resign from his position, arguing that the party’s advice was based on falsehoods and a misinterpretation of facts.He denied the allegations of fraudulently receiving the Shs500 million ‘service award’ from Parliament.
According to Mpuuga, the money was legally allocated to him by a commission in his capacity as the Leader of the Opposition, following the necessary parliamentary procedures.
“To call any such payments corruption is the highest level of spite, double standards, and deliberate misrepresentation to the public and membership of the Party on a purely selfish mission,” he stated.
But the leader of NUP, Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine, insisted that Mpuuga had admitted to wrongdoing and apologised for corruption and abuse of office during a meeting with party leaders.Kyagulanyi challenged Mpuuga to explain what he had given in exchange for the Shs500 million awards, stating that it involved negotiation and ‘give and take.’
In a statement last week, the deputy party of NUP in Western region, Zedriga, expressed concern over the corruption scandal involving Mpuuga and the mismanagement of public affairs by the leadership of the Parliament of Uganda. Zedriga stated that Mpuuga admitted his involvement in the matter during a party meeting on February 28, 2024, as well as publicly. She emphasized that such actions were illegal, immoral, and contrary to the principles and objectives of the National Unity Platform.
The purpose of this response is to enable the National Executive Committee to make an informed decision regarding Mpuuga’s position as a member of the Parliamentary Commission.
It has now been revealed that NUP is now looking at Sacking Mpuuga as the NUP Party Vice President In Buganda Region however it’s remains uncertain on who may replace Mpuuga.Among the names looked at is Alhajj Ali Mulyanyama, the Makindye Division Mayor, Hon Betty Nambooze (Mukono Municipality MP), Hon Francis Zaake (Mityana Municipality MP), Matia Lwanga Bwanika (Wakiso District Chairperson) among others.
Betty Nambooze has of late been on TV criticizing Mpuuga and supporting the Party position to expose and demand him to resign as the Parliament commissioner. However according to the sources inside the NUP Party , Nambooze is no different from Mpuuga since they play the same political games and both moved together from the Democratic party to National Unity Platform (NUP) in 2020.
A close source to the NUP Party President claims Nambooze is right to criticize Mpuuga but on the other hand she’s doing that so that the Party fronts her as the NUP Vice president In Buganda after Sacking Mpuuga.
“That Nambooze is not different from Mpuuga , they are closely the same , good friends and playing the same politics like they used to do in DP. We haven’t forgotten that Nambooze was among the MPs who had plotted to oust our President Bobi Wine as the Party Top Leader. I doubt if the our Party NEC can trust her” The Source Told The Kampala Eye
Another official in the party revealed that the party has the qualities it needs in a person who will replace Mpuuga.
The source said the person should be vocal in Buganda kingdom and very loyal to the Kingdom and the Party as well. The person should also be known as someone who has been vocal about the human rights violations and should also be very active in the party daily to daily activities.
As we await what will come from the NUP Party NEC meeting on Friday this week, it remains uncertain on who will succeed Mpuuga.