Shadow AG Niwagaba Exposes NUP, LoP Ssenyonyi ‘Hypocrisy’ On Electoral Reforms
In a shocking revelation, Shadow Attorney General Wilfred Niwagaba has exposed the leadership of the largest opposition National Unity Platform (NUP), saying that the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Parliament, Joel Ssenyonyi blocked his proposals on critical Constitutional and electoral reforms aimed at creating a free and fair electoral process in Uganda.
In an interview with CBS FM on July 1, 2024, Niwagaba said, “I had introduced that [Constitutional and Electoral Reforms] Bill, but the leadership of opposition [in parliament] stopped me, and I am constrained to follow what the Leader of Opposition says. I had brought reform proposals thinking that we would get time to fully dissect them. But my bosses told me, to stop proposals. What would you want me to do?”
Poked to tell which LoP between Mpuuga and Ssenyonyi stopped him from moving constitutional and electoral reforms, Niwagaba frankly retorted, “current LoP and I am liable and constrained to follow what my boss wants.”
To close his revelation, Niwagaba affirmed, “these reforms are necessary. Unfortunately, we are behind time because we cannot start it late, and conclude it before the 2026 elections’ timelines catch us.”
These comments by Niwagaba who said, “to be sincere, we have not yet sat as shadow cabinet to see which areas we need to focus on… but we shall deliberate, according to LoP’s desired programme’s focus,” are not alien.
In June 2023, the former LoP Mathias Mpuuga initiated a process to advance constitutional and electoral reforms, arguing that the process needed to be urgently tackled to avoid regime’s excuses.
“The country needs reform to the Constitution and legislation that affirms and supports the independence of the electoral commission, protects against the disenfranchisement of Ugandans, protects the rights of opposition candidates, and ensures principles of transparency, equity, and accountability,” Mpuuga said during a 2-day retreat at Munyonyo.
“In addition, there is a need for the legal regime to ensure a level ground for all participants in elections and out rightly prohibit the participation of armed personnel in the election processes,” he added.
To show the urgency, Mpuuga said, “the current state of the country’s rule of law and constitutionalism has occasioned wasteful expenditure of public resources and exacerbated political tensions, just awaiting a trigger to explode. Therefore, these reforms are urgently required to shape Uganda’s political landscape.”
In conclusion, Mpuuga revealed, “I have been sharing with comrades here inter-alia that as opposition and all of us who desire change, our requirement to meet cannot be any more urgent than now,” he said, “even if we meet for the whole day and we quarreled as the opposition, it is okay as long as at the end of the quarrel we find new motivation and fresh perspectives.”
However, his party’s president, Robert Kyagulanyi, vehemently thwarted Mpuuga’s proposals.
“One lesson we have learnt from experiences of those who challenged Museveni before us and from our own experience is that for as long as the Museveni regime is in power, Uganda will never experience fair electoral processes, or even uphold constitutional governance,” Kyagulanyi said during the occasion.
“This regime sustains itself in power by denying its opponents any political fairness. So, the first thing to do is to get rid of this regime. Only then shall we expect respect for any political discussion,” he added.
Kyagulanyi’s stance was followed by an official NUP position on reforms, claiming that the current electoral laws are sufficient to bring about change.
“We also believe that despite their flaws, the current laws if implemented would guarantee fair play and sanity in elections,” in a June 6, 2023, statement party said, “however, the criminal regime has always ignored them and carried out the worst forms of electoral fraud. Therefore, constitutional and electoral reforms cannot be the solution.”
However, in what is seen as a stark contradiction, Kyagulanyi used an interview with CNN in June 2024, to emphasize the significance of a free and fair electoral process, which he opposed and subsequently sacked Mpuuga declared a plan to challenge Museveni again through the ballot in the 2026 elections under the same electoral laws.
“We will continue to challenge General Museveni through every available moral and constitutional means,” he said, “by 2026 if we have not removed him from power, we will challenge him to a free and fair election.”
Nevertheless, as time passes, some MPs who are known to be staunch and ever ready to endorse whatever NUP president desires, have started to shift their minds on the rock-strewn subject. One of them is Mawola MP, Gorreth Namugga who used her maiden appearance on the popular Capital Gang show to clamor for constitutional and electoral reforms.
Like Mpuuga, she needs a constitutional amendment to change the modus of appointing electoral commission heads as opposed to today when President Museveni appoints whomever he desires with the full backing of the law.
Niwagaba’s outburst seems to cast a shadow over NUP’s credibility on democratic reforms, leaving many wondering if they are truly committed to creating a level playing field for all political players.