Africa-Press – Uganda. Tension is simmering within the National Unity Platform (NUP) after several party members who were denied cards for local government seats vowed to challenge the process.
The disgruntled members accuse party leaders of mishandling the selection of flag bearers, warning that unless their grievances are addressed fairly, they will expose what they call “irregularities” in the vetting exercise.
“We cannot support these weak candidates who were given flags unfairly,” one member at the NUP headquarters in Makerere-Kavule told our reporter. “If nothing changes, we shall stand as independents.”
Protest at Kavule headquarters
On Monday morning, access to the NUP headquarters was restricted as party security blocked dozens of aggrieved members from entering. Left stranded outside the gates, they staged a protest demanding explanations for being denied party endorsement.
As the crowd swelled, chants grew louder until Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya was called in to calm the situation. Some members forced their way inside, pressing party leaders to immediately publish the full list of flag bearers and their scores in the party’s internal vetting system.
“Members just want transparency. We want to see the basis on which some people were chosen over us,” said another aspirant who was denied a card.
Party leaders respond
Despite the chaos, some members maintained their loyalty to NUP President Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, while making it clear they would not support the selected flag bearers.
The party’s Conflict Resolution Committee, chaired by Aisha Kabanda, assured members that their complaints were being reviewed.
“We have received petitions and are carefully going through them. A corrected list of flag bearers will be released very soon,” Kabanda said.
Secretary General Rubongoya also promised that irregularities would be resolved. He downplayed the extent of the chaos, noting that fewer objections had been recorded compared to the 2021 general election.
“This time the number of disputes is much lower than what we experienced in 2021,” Rubongoya said. “Where we find clear irregularities, we shall fix them. And anyone discovered to have secretly aligned with other parties will be dropped and replaced.”
He admitted that the process had been complicated by some aspirants who applied for positions different from those they eventually wanted.
With parliamentary nominations around the corner, NUP leadership says it is working to resolve all disputes at the local government level before moving on to bigger races.
“The process has challenges, but we are determined to get it right before parliamentary nominations,” Rubongoya emphasised.
As the party moves toward the 2026 elections, the question remains whether NUP can maintain unity while navigating internal tensions over its flag bearer selection.
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