National Unity Platform President Robert Kyagulanyi has suspended Mathias Mpuuga from the party deputy presidency seat (central region).

In a letter to Mpuuga dated March 27, 2024, Kyagulanyi claims he (Mpuuga) has failed to provide a satisfactory explanation as to why he was allocated shillings 500 million by the Parliamentary Commission.

“On May 6, 2022, while you served as the Leader of Opposition in Parliament a position to which you were seconded by the party, you participated in a meeting which, you together with three National Resistance Movement nominated Parliamentary Commissioners allocated yourselves shillings 1.7 billion under the pretext of service awards,” aka Bobi Wine writes.

National Unity Platform President Robert Kyagulanyi

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He says this was an act of corruption and abuse of office, which violated numerous laws, including Section 9 (1) of the Leadership Code Act (2002), which prohibits leaders from taking part in meetings at which matters of personal interest to them are to be discussed.

“You have thus far failed to provide any satisfactory explanation for engaging in this action, which goes against the vision, mission and objectives of the party. It also goes against Article 53 (b) and (f) of the party constitution which obligates party members to conduct themselves in a manner that does not bring disrepute to the name of the party as well as practice accountable leadership,” the letter reads.

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He adds: “In accordance with Article 6.3 (h) and 7.1 € of the Party Constitution, I hereby suspend you from the position of Deputy President of NUP for Central Region with immediate effect, and accordingly refer the matter to the national executive committee for further processing”.

I am yet to receive the letter

When New Vision Online contacted Mpuuga, he said he had not yet received the letter and would comment once he had. 

“I will respond once I have access to that letter,” he said.

Mpuuga suspension comes hardly a day after the Katikkiro of Buganda, Charles Pater Mayiga, urged NUP to sit down and iron out their issues.

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On Tuesday, March 26, 2024, Mpuuga addressed the media on the state of affairs in NUP in which he insisted he was a founder member of NUP and that he was going nowhere.

“I wish to state that I'm a founder member of NUP where I serve as a deputy president. I am not leaving the party I founded and I’m not doing anything that destroys a young party I participated in establishing with conscience and conviction. At least I’m not yet moved to that level,” Mpuuga said.

He also said he had seen a copy of a letter circulating on social media calling for his removal from the Parliamentary Commission noting that “the owner of the copy is visible from the bottom. The letter is addressed to the Rt. Hon. 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 insisted: “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 to not deliberately slander and defame me for short-term political security. I wish also to reassure all comrades in the struggle for a fair Uganda that my commitment has never waned; that I am not and shall never be part of any form of corruption. When we find ourselves disagreeable on anything in our midst, we must find mechanisms for mature resolution; which is different from grandstanding and desire to settle political scores, at the expense of the reputations of comrades with whom we struggle to offer the country better leadership”.

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

“In the current circumstances, it is also not difficult to tell that the objective was never on accountability because no one provides financial accountability at press conferences and on social media. The previous days have cast much doubt within the Ugandan populace as to whether our Party is capable of handling the humongous task of liberation and effecting solutions to the political and social challenges our country is facing. We must regain public confidence and trust and demonstrate that we are worthy of the people's support in leading the charge for change and transformation that the Ugandan masses are yearning for,” he added.

Mpuuga assured the entire NUP leadership, membership, supporters and the general public, that, “NUP is my party and I harbour no intentions whatsoever of leaving; I am going nowhere, rather I’ll in the coming days embark on a process of instituting internal Party reforms to make it a credible and competent government in waiting.”

Kyagulanyi's decision to suspend Mpuuga also comes in the wake of the refusal by Speaker Anita Among to remove him and replace him with Mityana Municipality MP Francis Zaake who the party had nominated.

It remains to be seen, what Mpuuga will do next.