Drunkards and marijuana smokers can't remove Museveni - Mpuuga

Former National Unity Platform (NUP) deputy president for Buganda Mathias Mpuuga has said the country needs sober leaders to remove President Museveni from power.

In what some interpreted as a dig aimed at his erstwhile ally turned nemesis and Robert Kyagulanyi, Mpuuga challenged aspiring leaders to be sober 24 hours a day if they are to change the country's political situation.

Citing President Museveni who has always said he does not drink alcohol nor smoke, Mpuuga said aspiring leaders must pick a leaf from the president and lead by example.

"Tell those interested in leadership positions to stop going to bars, getting drunk and smoking marijuana," Mpuuga said at a recent gathering in Mityana Municipality.

"If you want to be a leader, you must be sober 24 hours a day. The person we want to push away doesn’t go to bars, he’s always sober. And he doesn’t even drink wine."

Mr Kyagulanyi, who was a musician for decades before joining politics, was known to use marijuana but he has over the years changed his lifestyle, including adopting a suave and debonair fashion as opposed to the ragged feature from his ghetto youth days.

It remains unclear if he still uses drugs but what is clear is that his supporters do not give a pig's tail about it and follow the hope he gives them.

During the event, Mpuuga also mocked legislators leading the censure motion against him and the commissioners involved in the controversial allocation of Sh1.7 billion service reward, saying most of them did so out of ignorance.

He said it had become too common for MPs to not act or make decisions soberly and called on them to stop going to bars before making decisions.

Mr Mpuuga, a former Leader of the Opposition under the NUP banner, fell out with the party principal Kyagulanyi in March following revelations that the Nyendo Mukungwe legislator negotiated and received Shs500 million as service award.

NUP condemned the cash token while Mpuuga insisted it was justified gratuity, leading to his suspension from the main Opposition party leadership.