Nyendo-Mukungwe MP Mathias Mpuuga on Tuesday again denied allegations of corruption and abuse of office and went on to implore his fellow leaders in the opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) party not to defame him for short-term political security.

“I wish to affirm that I confess no wrongdoing whether in law or elementary common sense. The position of the law has been clarified to whoever wished to understand; but not to deliberately slander and defame me for short-term political security,” he said.

Mpuuga, the NUP deputy president in charge of Buganda sub-region, is also a member of the parliamentary commission, Parliament's top decision-making organ.

He made the remarks while addressing a press conference at Parliament in Kampala after what he termed "days of silence and meditation" as speculation mounted around his future in NUP.

Mpuuga’s address came a week after NUP wrote to Speaker of Parliament Anita Among notifying her of its decision to withdraw his nomination to the commission and replace him with Mityana Municipality MP Francis Zaake over alleged corruption and abuse of office.

“I have seen a copy of [a] letter circulating on social media. The owner of the copy is visible from the bottom. The letter is addressed to the Speaker of Parliament and I’m only informed of the contents by copy. I will not respond thereto, save to restate my position as communicated to the party and the country,” Mpuuga stated.

He encouraged Ugandans at all times to question the decisions of their leaders, especially those in higher offices and make critical decisions on their behalf.

“In the current circumstances, it is also not difficult to tell that the objective was never accountability, because no one provides financial accountability at press conferences and on social media,” Mpuuga, who quit his ministerial position in Buganda Kingdom in 2010 to join mainstream politics, said.

Robert Kyagulanyi-led NUP accused him of getting involved in the alleged sh1.7 billion corruption scandal at Parliament that emerged last month on social media platform X, formerly Twitter. 

Of the sh1.7 billion one-off service award given by the commission, Mpuuga was allocated sh500 million, while the three other commissioners got sh400 million each. This was during a meeting the commission held on May 6, 2022 when Mpuuga was still serving as the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament (LOP).

He left the LOP office in January 2024 after his two-and-a-half-year-old term ended in December last year. 

Kyagulanyi, who once served in Parliament for one term representing the people of Kyandondo East, still claims that “this money-heist was illegal, immoral and wrong, and totally unexpected from a person we delegated to represent our values in Parliament and lead the charge against corruption and misuse of public resources”.