The National Unity Platform (NUP) has recalled former Leader of the Opposition, Mathias Mpuuga, from the parliamentary commission, a position he has served for barely three months.
In a statement dated March 15, the acting NUP president, Lina Zedriga Waru, said that Mpuuga sent his response regarding the allegations of corruption and abuse of office against him to the party. The response was then analyzed by the National Executive Committee (NEC), the party’s top decision-making organ.
However, Zedriga stated that Mpuuga did not provide a satisfactory explanation for engaging in the ‘crimes’ against him.
“In light of this, NEC has recalled Hon. Mpuuga from the parliamentary committee on account of corruption, dishonesty, and abuse of office, and Parliament will be informed about the same,” reads the statement in part.
The statement further adds that Mityana Municipality MP Francis Zaake has been nominated to replace Mpuuga.
“His nomination was informed by the fact that he was illegally removed from that role in March 2022 to pave the way for the grand corruption and questionable dealings of the Parliamentary Commission that have come to light,” reads the statement.
It is important to note that there is no provision within the law or the rules of procedure of parliament that allows a political party to recall a commissioner. A commissioner can only be voted out by members of parliament.
Meanwhile, the NUP-Mpuuga standoff started when the party asked him to step down from his current position as parliamentary commissioner, accusing him of corruption and abuse of office.
In response, Mpuuga declined to step down, explaining that the said Shs500 million ‘Service Award’ money was granted to him by the Parliamentary Commission as gratuity, and thus he cannot be accused of any crime.
Meanwhile, The National Unity Platform (NUP) is heading for a mega-split, a move that is likely to undo all the political gains and achievements it has made since 2017, when it was formalized as a national movement on Unity, Reconciliation and Development Party (NURP) before changing its name to NUP in 2020.
This emerging party has achieved a lot in this short period of time, including eclipsing the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) as Uganda’s largest opposition party in the number of lawmakers signing it.Thanks to several NRM, FDC, DP and independent MPs who allied themselves with People Power in connection with the 2021 general election wave in which the party gained 57 MPs in Parliament.
However, information received by this publication indicates that one of the party’s key figures, Mathias Mpuuga (Nyendo-Mukungwe Ward MP, Masaka City), is on the verge of leaving the party.And that’s not all: Mpuuga, former opposition leader in parliament and also NUP vice-president in the Buganda region, is in the final stages of establishing his own political party.
Sources say he has been planning this for some time but has gained momentum as NUP bosses “aligned against him” over the last three weeks over his alleged involvement in the Parliamentary Commissioners’ Service Awards saga.
Mpuuga found himself at the center of attention in an ongoing protest on social media under the hashtag #UgandaParliamentExhibition after leaked documents revealed that he and three other parliamentary commissioners were irregularly awarded taxpayers’ money labeled “prize service”.
