Erias Lukwago, the Chairperson of the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF), has blamed the National Unity Platform (NUP) for the failure to form a united opposition coalition, accusing the party of “greed” and deliberately sabotaging efforts to front a single candidate against President Yoweri Museveni in 2026.
Speaking on a local radio talk show on Monday, 25th August 2025, Lukwago stated that the NUP’s refusal to join the coalition has made it impossible to front a single presidential candidate, a move he argued was crucial to unifying resources and votes to oust the long-ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM).
“The idea of fielding a joint opposition presidential candidate would have been our strongest weapon in ensuring a unified front against the incumbent. However, this is no longer feasible because the NUP has deliberately refused to join the coalition,” Lukwago stated.
Lukwago, who is also the Lord Mayor of Kampala, attributed NUP’s reluctance to what he called “greed” and a desire to monopolise power. He argued that as the largest opposition party in Parliament, NUP feels it does not need to align with other forces.
“Since NUP is the biggest opposition party in Uganda currently, they feel like they don’t have to be in a coalition with other change-seeking forces,” he said, adding that, “I think it is greed that is preventing NUP from joining the opposition coalition since they wouldn’t want to share power with other parties if they win.”
The PFF leader further accused NUP of engaging in hostile actions against its opposition counterparts. He claimed the party is fielding candidates against established opposition figures like PFF’s Ssemujju Nganda and himself, instead of focusing its efforts on NRM-dominated areas.
“NUP has not only refused to join the opposition, but they are also fighting us,” Lukwago asserted. “This is a deliberate strategy to weaken other opposition forces.”
NUP has been categorically clear that it has no intention of joining any opposition coalition, citing a fundamental lack of trust in other groups. This position was concisely underscored by NUP spokesperson Joel Ssenyonyi, who openly mocked the new ANT-PFF alliance, dismissing it as nothing more than a “coalition of failures”.
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