Kira Municipality MP Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda has accused President Yoweri Museveni of systematically weakening opposition parties and undermining Uganda’s democracy, warning that both ruling and opposition elites have abandoned their responsibility to the nation.
Speaking during a live interview on NBS, Ssemujju said Museveni’s strategy is to absorb or neutralize dissenting voices rather than strengthen multiparty politics.
“President Museveni deliberately wants to put all the opposition parties under him,” he said. “He is not consolidating democracy, he is consolidating control.”
The former Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) spokesperson expressed disillusionment with his former party, saying it no longer reflects the values that once defined it.
“The FDC I joined is completely different from the FDC I left,” he noted. “Democracy works with standards, but we are abandoning those standards at every level.”
He also criticised the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) for prioritising loyalty over competence in key parliamentary roles.
“In the Budgeting Committee where I sit, the NRM presents members who are completely green about the budget. They’re not there to serve the country; they’re there to rubber-stamp decisions,” Ssemujju said.
He warned that Uganda’s political class across the spectrum has failed to build institutions, instead fostering “personalities and cults of power.”
“The elite has let down the country,” he added.
Ssemujju’s comments have reignited debate about the state of multiparty democracy in Uganda as the country enters a tense pre-election period.
Analysts warn that the erosion of internal party democracy and the co-opting of opposition figures by the ruling party could further weaken the political system.
