As Uganda settles from a highly contested presidential election that has reshaped the opposition landscape and triggered fresh debate about the credibility of the electoral process, Democratic Front (DF) president Mathias Mpuuga Nsamba has said his defeat in the Nyendo-Mukungwe parliamentary race does not mark the end of his political career.
Speaking on Monday at the DF headquarters in Namirembe, Mpuuga said he remains deeply engaged in national politics, noting that his involvement predates his entry into Parliament in 2011.
He said he would continue organising the DF and working with like-minded actors to push for political change in Uganda.
“I’m still around; you rule me out at your own peril. Even the person who was declared in Masaka also knows he is an accident. I want to assure you, I’m around, make no mistake. Rest assured that you will not get rid of me. I was not born in parliament, but I have been on national issues way before I went to parliament,” Mpuuga said.
Mpuuga’s remarks come against the backdrop of the presidential election in which President Yoweri Museveni and the National Resistance Movement (NRM) retained power, while opposition parties, particularly the National Unity Platform (NUP), raised concerns over alleged electoral irregularities, especially in opposition strongholds.
In Nyendo-Mukungwe, Mpuuga was defeated by NUP’s Gyaviira Ssebina Lubowa, who polled 21,447 votes against Mpuuga’s 10,548. Reacting to the results, Mpuuga alleged that DF candidates were victims of a coordinated scheme of electoral fraud involving both the ruling NRM and NUP.
“The DF has taken note of syndicated and deliberate acts by a cabal of actors who took advantage of the failure of the biometric voter verification kits to execute a syndicated plan of fraud involving multiple voting and ballot stuffing, which greatly disadvantaged DF candidates in parts of Masaka, Dokolo, Amuru, Ngora, Gulu, Wakiso, and Kampala, where both opinion and exit polls indicated DF wins,” Mpuuga said.
He said the party is consulting stakeholders before deciding whether to challenge the results in court. “We are listening to all stakeholders. We have set up a legal team where we are going to listen to all stakeholders and decide what to do. We shall inform you when that decision has been made,” Mpuuga said.
Meanwhile, Mpuuga said he takes no offence at his long-time ally Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi, despite their political fallout ahead of the elections. The two have been friends since their university days in the mid-1990s.
However, the relationship soured over the past two years after Kivumbi went to Mpuuga’s constituency and declared the seat vacant, later campaigning for Mpuuga’s opponent, Ssebina.
Kivumbi also replaced Mpuuga as NUP vice president for Buganda after Mpuuga was dropped following disagreements over the Shs500 million service award. Speaking at the same briefing, Mpuuga said he still considers Kivumbi his brother.
Kivumbi was also defeated in the Butambala county parliamentary race by journalist Eriasa Mukiibi Sserunjogi.
He was among at least 23 National Unity Platform candidates who lost their seats in last week’s elections, outcomes that have intensified internal debate within the opposition following the presidential vote.
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