Hot Seat: NUP Supporters In Diaspora Declare A Bigger War On “Transactional” Muwanga

Since its inception, the National Unity Platform (NUP) has been on a mission to eliminate senior, and influential politicians in Buganda, and their latest decision has left many of their supporters stunned.

According to sources, NUP president Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, had been critical of Mathias Mpuuga, the former Leader of Opposition (LoP) and the party deputy president in charge of Buganda.

Kyagulanyi accused Mpuuga of frustrating the party’s mobilization structures, and creating internal divisions, misleading NUP MPs to support the passage of the controversial Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA), and lately, Bobi said his former deputy president was responsible for sowing division between the party, and Buganda Kingdom.

As such, sources close to Kyagulanyi intimated to us that he solicited the services of unruly NUP supporters in the diaspora to humiliate Mpuuga through all available forums, especially online.

Among others, they agreed to begin their coordinated humiliation with Mpuuga who held their two frontline positions, and by extension, widen their elimination scope to other Buganda politicians who were all directly supported by the Buganda Kingdom to join the murky political arena.

Politicians on Bobi’s hit list include Mathias Mpuuga, Betty Nambooze, Muwanga Kivumbi, Medard Sseggona, Moses Kasibante, and Erias Lukwago, among others. The overarching objective is to make Bobi Wine, the kingpin in Buganda to the extent that his mission knows no bounds since it crossed up to the Mengo Government to directly attack the Kabaka, and his officials led by Katikkiro Charles Peter Mayiga.

So, Hillary Tailor Sseguya, a renowned NUP and LGBTQ+ lobbyist based in the USA led an unrelenting attack against Mpuuga from 2022 to this date. Especially those career politicians namely Betty Nambooze, and Muwanga Kivumbi who were led by Mpuuga to join NUP from the Democratic Party were always cheering him.

The motivation by the two individuals was the jostling for Mpuuga’s jobs at the NUP. When the LoP position went to Nakawa West’s Joel Ssenyonyi, both career positions kept their fight against Mpuuga in the quest to scheme for the deputy president, Buganda region position. This had been going on for more than a year, until January 16, 2025 when Bobi selected Muwanga Kivumbi who blindly betrayed Mpuuga, who fed him for some good years, until when he helped him to join Parliament through a by-election in Butambala.

 Karma is a boomerang

As the saying goes that what goes around, comes around, the shocking twist is that as soon as Bobi Wine appointed Muwanga Kivumbi, a man who had joined forces with him, and cronies locally, and abroad to attack Mpuuga, as the new deputy president for the Buganda region, the wrath turned on him.

Despite the fact that Muwanga is the one who mostly fed Bobi Wine with mostly falsefoods against Mpuuga in a typical way to win his favours, his appointment to replace Mpuuga left many including Hillary Sseguya, feeling betrayed because Mpuuga’s replacement is part of the group they are working to eliminate politically.

To starters, Sseguya had been a fierce critic of Mpuuga, particularly over his stance on the controversial Anti-Homosexuality Act. Acting on the information they picked from Kyagulanyi, Sseguya always accuses Mpuuga of leading opposition MPs to vote in support of the bill, which Sseguya vehemently opposed. When Bobi Wine travelled abroad, he blamed the passage of the anti-homosexuality act on his MPs, implying that he was against the bill.

Sseguya’s disappointment with Bobi Wine’s decision to appoint Muwanga Kivumbi is palpable, and scathing.

“It is so troubling to some of us that Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi is appointed as his [Mpuuga successor. This is business as usual. Mpuuga, Muwanga Kivumbi, no! We are a party that has promised hope to Ugandans but to us who are very passionate about real change, we look at this appointment of Kivumbi as a real betrayal,” Hillary said.

“So, our party leaders, if we are to disrupt this regime of despot Museveni which is so ruthless, we need to stop recycling the same failed politician time, and again,” he added, “NUP is a young party that has been promising hope and brighter future o Ugandans.”

“We told Ugandans we are removing the dictator a long time ago,” Sseguya said, “So, why are we stuck with this failed politician? This is a career politician. All he cares about is sustaining the status quo yet all some of us care about, is disrupting the status quo and we bring the fundamental change which they do not understand.”

He explained, “Muwanga Kivumbi has been in Parliament for 15 years. So now you are appointing him to this position, and it means that you have endorsed a fourth term for him in Butambala, so he goes back to Parliament to make it 20 years. We are contradicting ourselves because we said our leaders cannot overstay in power, yet we want to remove dictator Museveni, who has been in power for 39 years.”

He urged Bobi Wine to be dependable, saying, “Let us walk our words so that we do not just make them words on mere pieces of paper. There is meaning to what we have been saying every day. So, Muwanga Kivumbi, he is like the same wine with the same taste in the same bottle. You cannot expect miracles from him even if you add him 10 more years in Parliament.”

He asserted, “It is their time up, and bring new faces because NUP is a new party with very many fresh young, and vibrant leaders who have been let down for so many years. So, why do we sideline young leaders in our party? It is wrong.”

“So, the leadership at NUP let us avoid making these mistakes because these are preventable mistakes. Whoever is misguiding the NUP leadership, the president, which is a political miscalculation. Muwanga Kivumbi is a dead-end politician. He is not taking us anywhere,” he said.

He affirmed, “The only thing Muwanga Kivumbi understands is transactional politics. Nothing else. So, the more we are stuck with these leaders, the more they are delaying our struggle to remove the dictator. We are already behind schedule folks. We told Ugandans we are removing the dictator a long time ago.”

“So, our dear president Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, and your entire leadership, you can avoid this dangerous miscalculation of Muwanga Kivumbi. Butambala has very many potential young leaders. NUP as a party has very many young potential leaders. So, we have options we can choose from. Let us not give excuses like the regime of Museveni is doing.”

He continues, “Right now the clock is ticking; let us bring meaning to what we have been saying. Let us taboo-charge the struggle. I am anti-Kivumbi. I cannot support Kivumbi. He is not my cup of tea. We need new faces, and stop sidelining young leaders in the party.”

 

Sseguya’s final blow is devastating to the extent that he explicitly says, “All our flag bearers in Buganda can win without Muwanga Kivumbi. Do not think Muwanga Kivumbi is a magic bullet that will disrupt the status quo. He is not, and in Buganda people are already awoken, and they know what to do. Muwanga Kivumbi is a dangerous miscalculation, and there is no hope in him, and we deserve better as NUP.”

It appears that Muwanga has fallen into Bobi Wine’s trap, unaware that he is among the targeted individuals to pave the way for NUP’s wider scheme of replacing their group with a new breed of NUP supporters. As Sseguya so aptly put it, “We need new faces, and stop side-lining young leaders in the party.”