DP leadership plot to push Siranda, Mbidde out of EALA race

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The Democratic Party (DP) National Executive Committee (NEC) members have launched a campaign to deny DP Secretary General, Gerald Siranda and DP Vice President, Mukasa Mbidde, a chance to ever represent the party at the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) elections over their scathing attacks to DP Party President General and Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Nobert Mao over speakership bid.

They accuse Siranda of "ditching" Mao and instead "endorse" the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate and Speaker of Parliament, Annet Anita Among. 

Unveiling their post-election roadmap at DP headquarters at Balintuma Road offices in Kampala on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, Kampala region branch leaders condemned Siranda for going public to denounce Mao, which they said is a sign of selfishness to the party values and internal cohesion.

Party electoral committee chairperson Kennedy Mutenyo said that Mao never violated either the DP constitution or the biblical ‘Ten Commandments of God’ to declare his candidature for the speakership position, as claimed by Mbidde and Siranda to cause a public spat.

Mao never needed Siranda and Mbidde’s endorsement from the party to declare his candidacy because he was duly elected by voters of the Laroo-Pece division in Gulu city, and the duo should not claim their hand in his win, Mutenyo observed.

“Former DP Secretary General, Basil Bataringaya and President General Ben Kiwanuka disagreed before he later joined the Uganda Peoples’ Congress (UPC) party, but life continued in DP, and probably these two are on their way out,” Mutenyo emphasised.

The DP Party electoral committee chairperson Kennedy Mutenyo speaking about the indiscipline of Mbidde and Siranda over Mao Speakership candidature. (Photo by Isaac Nuwagaba)

According to the DP Press Secretary to the President General, Fred Mwesigwa, the move is driven by a power struggle within the party over the implementation of DP-NRM cooperation with Siranda accusing Mao of sidelining him.

“Siranda wants to go back to EALA in Arusha, and we shall withdraw our party ticket from him as part of the disciplinary action. You cannot move public talking ill about your fellow leader whom you even signed the cooperation agreement with while meeting President Museveni,” Mwesigwa said.

Mao rigorously negotiated for the EALA seats of both Mbidde and Siranda, and Mbidde served for two terms, while Siranda is still in his first term, he noted.

“When Mbidde and Siranda were vying for EALA seats, it was Mao who helped them to become what they are, but they have turned against him at the time when teamwork and party cohesion are needed to secure victory in the 12^th Parliament,” Mwesigwa insisted.

They are against Mao because they want positions as ministers in the next cabinet, and they believe that Among will help them convince President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni to give them positions when she goes through, he added.

Fredrick Kiwanuka Kwatakunsawo, the Kampala regional representative, said that they supported Mao following a party meeting that passed a resolution to throw its full weight behind Mao’s unmatched leadership for the last 15 years.

“Mao is credited for authoring a private member’s bill that was instrumental in passing the Amnesty Act that ended the Lords’ Resistance Army (LRA) rebels under Joseph Kony in Northern Uganda,” he said. Mao made a significant impact during his tenure as the MP in the 6th Parliament (1996-2001) as a representative for Gulu municipality, establishing a reputation as an outspoken and proactive legislator.

“He served on the Public Accounts Committee and the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee, where he mentored young and first-term MPs,” insisted Kwatakunsawo.

Siranda’s public endorsement for Among

“For me, I am an MP representing Uganda in EALA basically because ‘my mother’ Among. As the Secretary General of DP, out of nine (9) legislators in Parliament, four (4) were not supporting me, but Among made me what I am when he convinced NRM MPs to support me,” Siranda said recently while in Pallisa.

There is no war between Mao and Among because I have seen every time I want to get something from Among, it is Mao who calls her for me, he added.

“For me, Among is the Speaker, and she is the one going to be the Speaker of the 12^th Parliament,” Siranda declared.

Relatedly, Mbidde, in a recent media interview, said that Mao neither consulted the party top brass nor the party structures to declare his bid.

“We were not consulted. Not at all. That candidature was a shock to me, and I am sure to most of the party members. I do not know the intention, but by estimation, it is intended to push the party into rallying behind a candidature that has been arrived at, reasons best known to the intended candidate. I was not consulted, and neither were other members of the party. I don’t know which people he consulted but if it involved lawyers, they should have told him that he is a minister, under a corporation arrangement by an agreement, whose expiry date is the 11th Parliament,” Mbidde said.