Opinion: Mpuuga’s lonely road

“Resolution on DF Presidential Candidate; The DF National Council is concerned that Presidential elections since 1996 are organised in a skewed manner to advantage a particular candidate-Yoweri Museveni. They are a mere ritual with pre-determined result. To participate without addressing the flaws would be to lend credibility to a sham process. Therefore in view of the foregoing, it is resolved that DF shall not present a candidate at the level of President at the 2026 general elections” (Democratic Front, 20.09.2025).

The newly minted Democratic Front and their resolutions ahead of 2026 General Elections are telling. That it is focusing in getting Members of Parliament and elected representatives across the Local Government. It is not focusing on or trying even to field a Presidential Candidate. Neither is the party vouching for another one or trying to build a coalition candidate with anyone else.

That’s really the real difference with People’s Front for Freedom (PFF) as they didn’t field a Presidential Candidate, but they are either standing by the National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate or the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT) candidate, which means the party will back and be campaigning with another party as a joint venture. The DF is just backing out and giving up.

Yes, the Presidential race a default race and the DF isn’t lying in their statement on the matter. However, the same can be said about the other races. The NRM won’t allow other parties to get a majority of the Parliament. Neither would the NRM allow other parties to have a total control or a say across the nation in the local government either. Therefore, the DF is taking people for fools here.

Mpuuga knows all of this and think his clever. It isn’t even funny. Mabarizi can be funny. Other Presidential Candidates with no structure or party, whom comes out of nowhere can make jokes. Nevertheless, Mpuuga isn’t one of them. His supposed to be a seasoned and wise leader. Regardless of that, he is just making a fool out of himself.

He know Kabuleta, Mbabazi and others failed before him. He knows the journey is painful and he most likely saw how others has paid a price and gotten nothing in return. That’s why he rather do something else and build his party. Meanwhile, no one is really trusting the process or the way the DF is built either.

I cannot believe them either. A bunch of journeymen who are there to sow discord and be thorn in the flesh of National Unity Platform (NUP). This party is only there to distort the playing-field of the opposition and weaken it as an advantage to the National Resistance Movement (NRM). Mpuuga is a pawn and reckless one at that. He will lose everything and all things considered, this is just a foolish enterprise.

Mpuuga isn’t as smart as they wanted him to seem. If he had been, he would have begged for mercy and followed party-line instead of being rogue. At that point he would have a proper home and possibly have a chance of reviving his career. Now his selling a lost hope and soldiering on into oblivion. That’s where his heading and he don’t even get it.

He might act like a big-shot… but his another pawn played by bigger men. Peace.

A note to the newly nominated independent candidates

Well, the run up to the 2026 General Elections are happening. Former people trying to vie for positions and offices has been blocked or lost their option within the party they were a part of. That being the National Resistance Movement or the National Unity Platform. Some seek other parties and places, which opened for them like the Democratic Front (DF). However, there won’t be open doors everywhere.

The nominations and the run-in’s at the Electoral Commissions Offices across the Republic. It is nothing new that people losing in the Primaries are running as independents after. That this happens for the NRM and NUP isn’t new. The NUP is saying the ones who does this is actually out of the party and cease being a members. We know the NRM aren’t doing this and they are capable of letting them return to the fold after the polls. The party has even appointed Independent MPs who has lost their races after General Elections. Therefore, we know the different attitudes to this.

The parties has to take it the way they want too. There is a risk that an individual will have more sway than a party. A party ticket isn’t a natural entry into office. Even if the constituency or the citizens in a region is used to voting for one party. Still, there is possibilities that a character and a person can become more viable than the party itself. We have seen this before and that can happen again in 2026.

These independents will regardless face an uphill battle. They should know this and they have to compete with state apparatus and party support systems, which can do so much more in the hey-days or on the polling day. We know polling agents of the opposition can be abducted and arrested on the voting day. So, if that happens to the likes of the NUP. Then what sort of power has an Independent candidate to safeguard his vote or his agents? We just know that they cannot do it or can afford to challenge it.

This is why the independents are there to stifle the competition, but also make things more unclear. As the options are jaded and the ruling regime can use lesser efforts to ensure the majority control. The opposition will be more fragmented and has less unified approach. As the independents who used to be members and wanted to run as flag-bearer, they are now challenging not only the state, but their own former party too.

The independents are here to stay. Some are naturally running as independents and aren’t trying to get a party nomination or be a flag-bearer. However, those aren’t the ordinary or the ones who has big-shot of getting there. The ones who are able are the ones who has already created a name and been able to build a structure for their candidacy. That takes time, money and skills to do. Especially, when you don’t have the help of a party and their support mechanisms. That’s what a candidate need and the joint efforts can also boost a candidacy. This is why an independent candidate has to bring the A-Game and be solid from day one. That’s a lot to ask and this is why plenty fails.

Time will tell… but expect some NUP leaning Independent MPs… just like we have seen NRM leaning Independent MPs in the past. That’s just natural and the same we will see in local government too. Peace.

The new party “bonanza” ahead of 2026

If you think Mathias Mpuuga’s Democratic Front (DF) is the only new one ahead of 2026. You are apparently wrong. The nation is grappling with the knowledge and getting to know all of the new political parties in the Republic. That’s clearly what is up, as there are new every week and older and inactive parties are suddenly changing names.

That’s why the Ecological Party is having a vibe with the NRM leaning Kampala Central MP Muhammed Nsereko. While former Kawempe South MP Mubarak Munyagwa is launching his Common Man’s Party. Today there was a launch of the National Peasant’s Party (NPP) so it is that.

Earlier this year and in a slower speed, the Katonga Road Headquarters of FDC became the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF). That’s a party which will have much more of a say and have leaders that is well known. As that is the party of Dr. Kizza Besigye and it’s also already aligned with Alliance for National Transformation (ANT) and Gen. Mugisha Muntu. These are fellows who are known and can organize itself.

Meanwhile the DF is full of stalwarts and journeymen. Mpuuga will have to galvanize his ego and feel the pinch like others before him. There is little to see there, but there is a pattern here.

All of these parties comes out of nowhere and is suddenly rising. They are done in such a fashion. That you can wonder. Just like the rising of special organizations and pressure groups within the National Resistance Movement (NRM). There is so many of them that are passing in the wind and are appearing ahead of elections. They are there as associations and vehicles for the willing to be recognized and hopefully get appointed or known by the “high above”.

These other parties are now appear as challengers and opposition. They are here to weaken the National Unity Platform and their cause. That’s to weaken the “base” of the NUP and trying to forge other narratives. That’s why Mpuuga and the likes are speaking more ill of Bobi Wine than of Museveni. That’s the game-plan here to break the strongholds and weaken this party.

The PFF-ANT alliance is a sincere one and we can see that. The newly formed alliance has game and shows tact. Meanwhile, these other parties are briefcase parties and other formations, which are only there as diversions and playing people for fools. These won’t win anything substantial or be true competition against the NRM. That’s what Museveni wants and all of these “fringe” parties won’t be treat to inner-circle of Movement. No, these are jokers and as the younglings suddenly becoming Presidential Candidates without any merit or a name to mention.

The DF, Common Man’s Party and NPP is most likely there to hurt the NUP. They are pawns on the chess-set and the King is setting them in motion. The king cannot control the likes of PFF, ANT or NUP. However, he can dole over barren dead-beat parties given a second life ahead of the 2026 elections. That’s why we can see the gig and it’s to naive to think otherwise.

This here is a game and they have put it in motion. We will see how this will play out. Nevertheless, expect continues attack on the NUP. More than they are going after the NRM or Museveni. That would be telling and will show their true intentions. As they are there as a diversion and not for significant change.

It is ironic, but expect these pawns to act like royalty, but they will end up in oblivion after the polls. Peace.

Opinion: Mpuuga’s road to oblivion

“Introducing the Democratic Front (DF), a new political party that is deliberate in bringing freshness to Uganda’s political landscape. It is born out our motherland’s need for meaningful transformation that transcends the tired cycle of recycled ideologies. The comes not a disruption, but a necessity born of the failures of the status quo. It is a home for logical thinkers, progressive minds, and those who believe in political ethics and disciplined service delivery” – Mathias Mpuuga MP (27.05.2025).

The fallout from the National Unity Platform (NUP) couldn’t have been played out more dramatically. Mathias Mpuuga MP couldn’t carry the weight of his action and follow the codes of the party, which he represented. However, he preferred to keep his office and be a renegade against the party that gave him a lifeline and offered him a safe haven. Alas, that wasn’t enough and now he starts yet another journey.

Mpuuga MP is a journey man. He has gone from Action for Change (A4C) to the Democratic Party. He stood beside and was a vocal voice in opposition coalition of The Democratic Alliance (TDA). Later he ditched all of that to become a NUP leader and MP there as well. Mpuuga followed the red wave and secured himself a title, got the trust of being the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament. Meanwhile, he was just finding all ways to eat and do so in secret.

We know he started his journey of leaving the NUP after the 500-million-shilling award. He went ahead and didn’t want to do the righteous thing. Instead, he defied the party and has since been a vocal critic of the party. His fighting the NUP more than he does in regard to the NRM. That is a very useful pawn for the elites and for the ones who wants to weaken the biggest opposition party.

He first did so by launching the Democratic Alliance (DA) with an agreement with Alien Skin. That he did in December 2024 and now in May 2025 ahead of the General Elections of 2026. Mpuuga MP returns with his own party and it’s the Democratic Front. He went from the Democratic Party went to National Unity Platform to the Democratic Alliance, and his final place for now is the Democratic Front.

The thinking this man has any direction or any sort of drive to anywhere. He is decades in and is all about the democratic values. Nevertheless, this man doesn’t want to follow or being guided by others. That’s what his proven in the NUP. We don’t know how he acted within the DP or if he was a renegade there as well and only saw a better option elsewhere.

Now his rebranding the Green Partisan Party (GPP) which been registered since July 19^th, 2010. He must have made a deal with Sentongo Muzafalu. The party itself had no candidates listed for the 2021 elections. If that is telling, this means that Mpuuga has bought a briefcase party and rebranded it.

He will now go in the footsteps of Amama Mbabazi. Instead of being a galvanizing figure and someone who didn’t get to upend the un-ceremonial King of the National Resistance Movement. His instead running on his own and with his own imprint. That will a road into a desert and with no hope of finding a proper water source. If he goes really bad, he will be running wild for nothing like Gilbert Bukenya did back in the day.

There is little hope and seemingly the currents isn’t on his side. The DF is bound to fail and be an epic downfall. He will go into nothingness and be an unknown within no time. Mpuuga MP misused his office and ran away from accountability. That’s what we remember him for, and his corrupt behaviour is the one that has tarnished him and destroyed him. He did it all by himself and now he runs on his party.

The DF will be worthless and within time he will feel the pinch. Just like he didn’t create havoc or even any popularity with the Democratic Alliance. He will just fall flat and be yet another one. At least Muntu and others who has started parties, they have had a message and had a platform after leaving the nest. That doesn’t feel sincere in regard to Mpuuga. No, he does this for selfish reasons, and we can all see it coming. Peace.