Veteran lawyer and opposition politician Peter Walubiri has urged former Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga to abandon the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) and “redeem herself” by joining the opposition, following her defeat in the race for NRM’s Second National Vice Chairperson (female).
Walubiri, a senior figure in the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC), described Kadaga’s loss at the party’s national conference in Kololo as “the best news for Busoga and for Uganda.”
“This vote has exposed NRM bare. They are now naked,” Walubiri said in a fiery address. “What happened in Kololo – bribery, vote manipulation and violence – is the hallmark of NRM politics that has suffocated Uganda since 1986.”
Kadaga, who has long been seen as a political heavyweight in eastern Uganda, was defeated by Anita Among, the current Speaker of Parliament, in a contest marred by allegations of heavy spending and internal party intrigue. Walubiri said the outcome proved that even NRM’s most loyal cadres were not spared the ruling party’s “political corruption.”
“For 40 years, Kadaga marketed NRM,” Walubiri added. “But now that she has been run under the bus and confesses there is corruption, violence and thuggery, she should open her eyes – and help others open theirs.”
He accused the NRM of reducing Busoga, once a thriving economic region, to “a wasteland of sugarcane plantations” and “levels of poverty only comparable to Karamoja.”
Walubiri said Kadaga’s defeat symbolised the collapse of NRM’s influence in Busoga and presented an opportunity for the opposition to make inroads. He openly invited her to join UPC, a party in which he claimed she has “traces of roots.”
“Kadaga has the chance to free herself and regain her dignity,” he said. “We would welcome her to work with us to free this country.”
Kadaga has not publicly responded to Walubiri’s remarks.
The NRM leadership has not commented on the accusations of vote-buying and manipulation. However, senior figures, including Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa, acknowledged that some candidates had spent billions of shillings in the contest, sparking fresh concerns about money’s role in Ugandan politics.
