Betrayal As Muwanga Fuelled Bobi To Purge Sseggona

On September 26, 2025, a meeting unfolded at Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine’s residence in Magere, bringing turning point for the National Unity Platform (NUP) and its old member, Medard Lubega Sseggona representing Busiro East.

In attendance were prominent figures including Bobi Wine, the party president; Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi, the NUP Deputy President in charge of the Buganda region and David Lewis Rubongoya, the Secretary General.

Others were Joel Ssenyonyi, the party spokesperson, Nyanzi Fred Ssentamu , Bobi’s elder brother, Nubian Li, the NEC member, and Barbra Itungo, Bobi’s wife.

The purpose of this meeting was to determine whether Sseggona would retain the NUP party card to contest for the Busiro East MP seat again, and the atmosphere in the room was heavy with anticipation as the fate of Sseggona hung in the balance.

Discussions took a serious turn when Secretary General Rubongoya presented the results of the vetting process conducted by the Chemutai-led Elections Management Committee (EMC).

It became clear that the committee was unable to reach a consensus regarding Sseggona’s candidacy; however, it recommended that if the decision was based on quality, Sseggona stood out among the candidates.

This assessment set the stage for a heated debate regarding the future of the party’s leadership.

As the meeting progressed, the dynamics shifted as allies and adversaries emerged. On one side was Mathias Walukagga, a longtime friend of Bobi Wine as a fellow musician whom he personally called on to express interest a party card, there was Emmanuel Magoola, and the incumbent Medard Lubega Sseggona.

Unlike Walukagga who had been promised a god-fatherly role by Bobi, Magoola boasted on the hefty fee paid to the Ssentamu brothers through Nyanzi Fred Ssentamu for the same party card. In the previous elections, both Sseggona and Magoola have been competing, but the latter always floured Magoola.

In Ssegona’s arsenal for the card battle, was his incomparable weight of past contributions to both Bobi Wine personally and the NUP as an institution.

Sseggona had been a cornerstone in the establishment of NUP, even offering his home to launch the People Power movement that birthed the party few years later.

Sseggona’s legal expertise had bailed Bobi Wine out of jail during turbulent times in Arua, and he had played a vital role in safeguarding NUP from being wrested away by its original founders. This legacy prompted EMC’s recommendation in favor of Sseggona affirming that he was far from inconsequential figures with whom he jostled the party card.

“Comrades, in our amidst, we have a senior member who has been at the center of politics for over 20 years. Besides, he is our deputy president and also happens to be Honourable Sseggona’s friend…we need to benefit from his wisdom on this matter,” Bobi who chaired the meeting said.

“As you know, I am personally allergic to the guys who speak a lot of English who always put on expensive suits. If I am to be flank with you, I am disappointed in EMC’s recommendation because my favorite in this race is comrade Walukagga,” Bobi added.

From the other side of the table, however, a different narrative emerged, championed by Muwanga Kivumbi. As the meeting unfolded, it became increasingly evident that Kivumbi had aligned himself with the faction favoring Walukagga.

When Bobi opened the floor to Muwanga, he had his voice cutting through the tension with a call for caution regarding Ssegona’s future in the party.

“Mr. President, first of all, I am very humbled to be given this opportunity to be part of this God-brought mass party the NUP which has a lot of masanyalaze [energy]. I am optimistic, that of given the card again, I will be able to save my Butambala constituency which is under a lot of threat from my competititors,” Muwanga said in his preliminary remarks.

He added, “Going on the issue you have tasked me with Your Excellency, I find it a bit difficult but I have to it. Where we are Mr. President, we have to shake the trees, and rid the party of bad fruits once and for all.”

With now a louder tone, the deputy president articulated a vision that narrowly eclipsed Sseggona’s historic contributions.

“Mr. President, we cannot afford to give Sseggona more five years in our party for the following reasons; you know that he is now the remaining man with strong roots with Buganda Kingdom, and they are actively talking with Katikkiro of Buganda, and you are all aware of the issues we have with those guys in Mengo. Secondly, if we leave Sseggona, our efforts to fight Mpuuga would have gone to waste because I am in position to know, they speak every day, and you know how he stood with him when we were all up to dig his political grave,”a tough-talking Muwanga told the 7-member meeting.

Muwanga’s remarks struck a chord among attendees, compelling them to question the viability of keeping Sseggona on board.

“Yes, Sseggona might have done some work for the party, but that was in the past, and we are talking about the future of this party. If it is about contributing to the party, we appreciate him but we will never go ahead if we get stuck in the past. After all, he has also earned courtesy of being a party member of parliament,” he argued, casting doubt over Sseggona’s relevance in NUP.

Throwing his hands in the air, Kivumbi therefore, proposed amending the EMC’s recommendation to replace Sseggona with Walukagga, a suggestion that was met with unanimous approval among the attendees.

“Mr. President, as we speak now, NUP is the only mass party which is extremely rich in terms of membership including lawyers. We cannot be blackmailed by Sseggona because he is a lawyer, we shall get others. Lastly and most important issue, Sseggona is a threat to you as the party president and all of us because he intends to stand against you. Let us be bold and stop him, and I beg to move a motion to amend the EMC recommendation to replace him with sir. Mathias Walukagga, the rest shall be history,” he declared.

On September 29, 2025, the ramifications of this meeting were cast in stone as NUP unveiled its list of party flag bearers for the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Among those stripped of their party cards was the renowned legislator Sseggona, replaced by Walukagga, whose qualifications to represent the constituency are still questionable.

Muwanga’s role in this betrayal of Sseggona who previously assisted him free of charge in a court battle that saw him ascend to Parliament, left many wondering about the integrity of his motives.

In a harsh reality, Sseggona is not the first to fall victim of Muwanga’s intrigue after he accepted to be used by NUP leader Bobi to fight Mathias Mpuuga whose immense contribution on improvement of his life as an unemployed and lazy political activist back then is a public secret.

What is an irony is that Muwanga’s motivation is to maneuver his way into favor among youthful and inexperienced party leaders while simultaneously splitting ties with old allies, a strategy that comes at huge moral cost.