Summary:

• Mathias Mpuuga, former Leader of the Opposition in Uganda’s National Unity Platform (NUP), refuses to resign as Parliamentary Commissioner despite NUP’s demand due to accusations of abuse of office. He accuses party leaders of orchestrating a character assassination campaign against him and vows to stand firm against what he perceives as personal attacks. Mpuuga denies allegations of irregular allocation of funds and criticizes the party’s lack of transparency and mistreatment of leaders.

Former Leader of the Opposition Mathias Mpuuga has said he will not step aside as a Parliamentary Commissioner as demanded by his party National Unity Platform (NUP) following accusations of abuse of office.  He has instead accused his party leaders of trying to character assassinate him.

“The campaign to character assassinate me is deliberate, and I am perfectly aware. It’s well orchestrated and well-funded. I am ready for the worst, if it takes this sacrifice to return sanity and common sense to our politics,” Mpuuga said in a statement Firday, adding, ” I accordingly decline the cowardly call on me to resign as a parliamentary Commissioner, based on spite, and deliberate misrepresentation for mischievous reasons.”

Mpuuga promised instead that, ” I commit that I’ll not be deterred by small-group- family interests being peddled to blur the bigger picture of how the Party is being managed without transparency, and the general mistreatment of other leaders in the party”

NUP yesterday asked Masaka Municipality MP Mpuuga to resign from his position as parliamentary commissioner following his admission to receiving sh500 million.

The allegations implicated Mpuuga and other commissioners in irregularly allocating large sums of money to themselves under the guise of service awards, with Mpuuga reportedly receiving sh500 million.

“The decisions of the commission are not personal but collective in nature, and for anyone to purport to make them personal decisions of an individual is a deliberate, well-crafted malicious campaign designed for character assassination,” Mpuuga argued.

He added that “The general public is aware and alive to the internal intrigue and machinations unfortunately within this young party over the last 2 and a half years, during my occupation of the coveted office of the LOP. It became the official style of different party leaders to undermine my work, including hiring of bloggers to abuse and insult my person.