Kasanda District Woman Member of Parliament Flavia Nabagabe Kalule has defended the National Unity Platform’s (NUP) vetting process for parliamentary candidates, dismissing allegations of bias and insisting that the system was designed to deliver the best possible flag bearers for the 2026 general elections.
Speaking during NBS Frontline on Thursday, Kalule clarified that the party’s Executive Board does not interfere with the work of the Elections Management Committee (EMC), which is responsible for candidate selection.
“The executive board doesn’t influence who the EMC selects as the party flag bearers. At the end of the day, we want a process that gives us the best candidates,” Kalule said.
The legislator emphasised that NUP has put in place an appeals mechanism to address grievances from aspirants who were dissatisfied with the vetting outcome.
“There is an appeals process a space for people to share their complaints. It’s from here where we shall know whether their complaints are credible or not,” she said.
Kalule also pushed back against critics who suggested that NUP selections were based merely on academic merit.
“NUP didn’t only look at academic qualifications. We looked at many other factors. I want to disagree with people who keep talking about some of the candidates we brought just by academic qualifications,” she said, stressing that considerations such as grassroots appeal, political capacity, and community trust played a central role.
She further pointed out that the party’s hands are partially tied by pending legal matters regarding its internal constitution.
“Remember that NUP submitted a revised party constitution to the Electoral Commission but it was never approved because we have a case in court. That constitution provided for party primaries in the selection of candidates,” Kalule said.
She suggested that a national discussion may be necessary on raising qualifications for Members of Parliament as one way of filtering unserious aspirants.
“Can we revise the qualifications of a Member of Parliament? That’s how we could sieve out the people we are calling jokers,” she said.
Despite ongoing criticism from aspirants who were left out and have since declared plans to run as independents, Kalule expressed full confidence in NUP’s chosen team to stand behind the president as the country heads to the polls.
Kalule’s remarks come at a time when NUP faces mounting pressure from both within and outside the party, with some critics accusing the vetting process of lacking transparency and sidelining seasoned legislators.
Party leaders continue to argue that the system remains credible and geared toward delivering electoral victory.