By Marvin Ashaba
Democratic Party (DP) Vice President Fred Mukasa Mbidde has again broken ranks with Party President Norbert Mao, accusing him of isolating the party through non-consultative decision-making and failing to deliver on the controversial cooperation agreement with the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM).
Mbidde’s remarks point to a widening internal rift within the party as Mao serves out what is expected to be his final term at the helm of Uganda’s oldest political organisation.
Speaking about the state of the party, Mbidde criticised President Museveni’s broader political strategy of absorbing opposition figures, using a mechanical metaphor to describe the Democratic Party’s position under the NRM-DP cooperation arrangement.
"NRM takes people from different places to solve its problems," Mbidde stated. "He has taken limbs from UPC, he has taken limbs from NUP. For us, he took the engine. He is not using it, he has nowhere to put it."
According to Mbidde, while other opposition parties have lost peripheral members, DP allegedly surrendered its core leadership to the ruling establishment, only for it to be sidelined and rendered ineffective.
He further revealed that DP’s initial support for the cooperation pact was anchored in expectations of constitutional and electoral reforms. The party, he said, had envisioned the arrangement as a strategic platform to push constitutional amendments, strengthen human rights protections, and secure a more credible Independent Electoral Commission.
However, Mbidde argued that these objectives have not been achieved, leaving the party weakened in influence and credibility while Mao pursues his responsibilities in government as Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs.
With Mao’s tenure winding down and internal tensions rising, Mbidde announced that he is charting a new political direction for the party, insisting DP must be disentangled from what he described as Mao’s personal political arrangements.
He warned that continued centralised decision-making had left the party drifting and politically exposed ahead of the next electoral cycle.
Mao has not yet publicly responded to the allegations.