The Vice President of The Democratic Party (DP) Fred Mukasa Mbidde has striked a scathing attack on the National Unity Platform (NUP)’s vetting process, describing it as opaque, unserious, and detached from the spirit of people power.
Speaking during NBS Frontline on Thursday, the former East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) Member of Parliament accused NUP of sidelining the electorate and conducting a process shrouded in secrecy.
“NUP is the only party whose candidate selection never involved the people. Citizens were waiting for results in the same way students wait for O-level results. No voter knew how NUP arrived at any decision, and nobody is aware of the sampling process,” Mbidde said, arguing that the party betrayed its core foundations of the People Power movement, reducing it to what he described as “a mere treadle.”
Citing the case of Busiro East Member of Parliament Medard Lubega Sseggona, who was denied the party flag in favor of musician-turned-politician Mathias Walukagga, Mbidde questioned the criteria used to evaluate competence.
“When you look at Medard Sseggona and the so-called winner, what was the question? What was the line of questioning? It looks like Sseggona was handed a guitar during vetting and told to sing an acapella—and that’s how he lost. I want to find anything legislative that the winner had over Sseggona,” he said.
Mbidde’s comments come amid growing criticism from within the opposition, where several senior NUP legislators and aspirants have protested their exclusion, opting instead to contest as independents.
NUP’s top leadership has since defended its decisions, maintaining that candidates were chosen based on their grassroots appeal and connection with the local electorate; calling upon those who lost to stand behind the selected flag bearer.