Nyendo-Mukungwe division nominations attract fresh Bobi Wine, Mpuuga political rivalry in Masaka city
FDC Counsel Muyizzi (NUP) and the FDC regional coordinator Joseph Ssenzonga after they teamed up to support his candidature for the Nyendo-Mukungwe Division parliamentary race. (Photos by Dismus Buregyeya)
By Dismus Buregeya
Journalists @New Vision
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Masaka city’s Nyendo-Mukungwe division has erupted as the epicentre of a political showdown between National Unity Platform (NUP) leader Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine and Democratic Front (DF) heavyweight Mathias Mpuuga, transforming the 2026 mayoral race into a high-stakes proxy battle.
With both camps deploying top-tier candidates for divisional, city mayoral, and council seats, the contest has triggered dramatic party mergers, internal fractures, and strategic maneuvers that threaten to reshape Masaka’s political landscape.
The rivalry intensified after NUP and DF formally fielded their contenders, drawing in defectors from smaller Opposition parties. Joseph Ssenzogga, Forum for Democratic Change (FDC)’s Masaka regional co-ordinator, and key Democratic Party (DP) figures recently abandoned their parties to back NUP’s Counsel Sam Muyizzi, a move cemented at a September 9, 2025 rally at Loroza Resort.
There, artiste King Saha aligned with Kyagulanyi, electrified over 2,000 supporters and vigilantes. Yet the event underscored deepening chaos within NUP: Florence Namayanja, Masaka’s NUP mayor, was notably absent after regional commissioner Ahmed Wasaki ordered her arrest for violating election laws during nominations at Sazza Lukiiko Hall.
"This merger with Counsel Muyizzi stems from his selfless fight for the voiceless," Ssenzogga said, justifying his defection. But the alliance has ignited turmoil among Nyendo-Mukungwe’s NUP faithful, who now grapple with a three-way contest for the divisional ticket between Muyizzi, Gyaviira Lubowa and Councillor Alice Nanungi. Over 200 Muyizzi supporters asked King Saha to lobby the Kampala leadership for his nomination, while Lubowa recently mobilised 700 backers at his home, a signal of the factional rift.
DF and NRM supporters cheer each other after the norminations exercise for the Nyendo-Mukungwe Division Mayoral race and councillors.
Meanwhile, DF’s aggressive campaign, reportedly backed by shillings 500 million, targets dominance across Masaka city. A DF insider revealed plans to "sweep the majority of parliamentary, mayoral, division and local government seats," with Mpuuga eyeing a parliamentary comeback and Dr Abed Bwanika and City Woman MP Juliet Kakande leading DF’s charge in Kimanya-Kabonela.
Premier Nabbanja in NRM members' crosshairs
The drama escalated further when Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja visited Masaka on Sunday, urging Mpuuga to "return to Parliament where his relevance is required."
However, her remarks backfired among National Resistance Movement (NRM) party ranks. Faisal Kinene, an NRM member, criticised her oversight: "Nabanja forgot the NRM has its own division flag-bearer—Recheal Nakitende, the wife of Minister Haruna Kasolo. The party clearly didn’t brief her."
Robers Bulegeya, Masaka City NRM chairperson, conceded Nakitende’s limited groundwork, noting she relocated to Masaka only after losing the Kyotera Woman MP race in 2016.
As Kyagulanyi’s and Mpuuga’s camps wage war through rallies, defections and resource-heavy mobilisation, Nyendo-Mukungwe has become a microcosm of Uganda’s escalating Opposition rivalries.
With internal NUP tensions mounting and DF’s aggressive strategy in motion, the division’s voters now hold the key to a battle where alliances shift overnight and every nomination carries the weight of national political ambition.