NUP warned going after disgruntled members is own goal

POLITICS | The National Unity Platform (NUP) has been warned to back off any plans to front candidates against its former members.

Analysts say doing so will only be like carrying double-edged swords to a battle.

A host of politicians led by former Leader of the Opposition Mathias Mpuuga fell out with NUP earlier this year. There have been suggestions that the party could be fronting new heads to unseat the likes of Abed Bwanika and Medard Sseggona.

But analysts say the move would almost be personal and undemocratic.

"They have party structures where party cards are awarded, I hope they will follow them," says Dr Sam Kazibwe, a political scholar.

True democracy as laid out in Article 71 of the Constitution, especially in political party eternal governance and operations continues to be tested with many political analysts arguing it doesn’t exist

Political analyst Nicholas Opiyo attributes this to the continued big-man syndrome eating up almost all political parties in the country with the latest being NUP whose tensions with some of their estranged MPs has the party seemingly lining up challengers to their own

"It’s unhelpful to the party it doesn’t build reconciliation it’s self-defeating," said Opiyo.

"They are scoring there own goals and only makes NRM stronger."

Mr Opiyo says it’s almost personal and instead of galvanising forces to retain seats they want to defeat their own members of their constituency.

He warns that it sets a very bad precedent.

"The way you treat them is going to set the same standard and practice that builds a party that eternally able to manage contradictions and operate in a Democratic and fair way to all its members," he said.

But how does this serve the NUP promise to remove the dictator?

"Depending on what their target really is political parties have undertook the difficulty in winning election so they have turned to parliamentary," Opiyo added.

Mr Mpuuga's fallout with NUP over the service award after it emerged that he had sat in a parliamentary commission meeting that negotiated and awarded him Shs500 million reverberated across the spectrum.

Initially a darling of Mengo and the Catholic Church, Mr Mpuuga had quickly run to the two powerful institutions.

However, several meetings with Buganda Kingdom Prime Minister Charles Mayiga later, NUP principal Robert Kyagulanyi could not be assuaged as he stuck to his guns - non-tolerance to what he deemed as corruption.

The Catholic Church and Mengo soon found out where the schism was leading when a section of Baganda loyal to Mr Kyagulanyi started picking bones with the kingdom in public.

The church, too, was receiving rubber bullets to its pulpit.

When Mpuuga organised a Thanksgiving last month, it was supposed to define his political stamina in the Greater Masaka but instead the Katikkiro delegated his second deputy why the Catholic Church largely stayed away.

While Mr Mpuuga was magnanimous in the face of the events at his Thanksgiving, the heavy clouds hanging over the political careers of some of his allies such as Bwanika in Kimanya-Kabonero suggests it could rain any time.

While Mr Mpuuga still look the part and can retain his seat in Nyendo Mukungwe, it is not the same for most of his allies.