Serious cracks are beginning to show within Uganda’s leading opposition party, the National Unity Platform (NUP), as senior member and Busiro East MP Medard Lubega Sseggona openly criticized the party’s ongoing vetting process, calling it a “bad test of leadership commitment” and suggesting it lacks transparency and fairness.
MP Medard Sseggona made these remarks on Monday, July 28, 2025, while addressing the media in Kampala about NUP’s ongoing vetting process, which he described as a flawed and disappointing test of leadership commitment.
The vetting exercise, which began earlier this month and runs until Friday, August 1, 2025, is taking place at the NUP headquarters in Makerere-Kavule, targeting key urban constituencies like Lubaga, Kawempe, Nakawa, Makindye, and Kampala Central.
The party claims the aim is to select candidates who align with NUP’s ideology of “People Power”, but Ssegona say the process is deeply flawed, secretive, and undemocratic.
In a surprise move, MP Sseggona distanced himself from blind support of the process, expressing concern about how it’s being conducted.
“This vetting exercise, the way it’s going, is not just a test of leadership, but a bad one,” Sseggona said. “If this is how we are proving our commitment to the struggle, then it’s already off track.”
He added that instead of promoting democracy, the process is causing more confusion and division among loyal party members.
“I have subjected myself to the NUP processes because I am a member of the party. But leadership is not tested by secrecy or political games. Let’s give people a fair and open process,” he stated.
Sseggona added that, according to reports from inside the vetting committee, some long-serving and well-known party members have been silently rejected or pressured not to run in certain constituencies.
There are also claims that the decisions are being made behind closed doors by a small group of top officials loyal to Bobi Wine, rather than through grassroots participation as promised.
Additionally, NUP rose to power in the opposition by branding itself as the voice of ordinary Ugandans and a fresh alternative to the ruling regime. But this vetting chaos could undermine the party’s own claims to democracy, transparency, and fairness.
As the vetting exercise continues, all eyes are on NUP’s leadership to prove whether it truly stands for the “people” or if it is falling into the same traps of corruption, favouritism, and authoritarianism it once claimed to fight against.
If unresolved, these internal divisions could cripple the party’s credibility heading into the 2026 general elections and leave many supporters wondering whether NUP has become just another political machine built on false promises.
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