Bobi Wine: Mpuuga’s electoral reforms push cannot work

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, the leader of the National Unity Platform (NUP), has urged opposition supporters not to bank on any electoral and constitutional reforms  that are championed by the opposition leader in parliament Mathias Mpuuga, to bring about change in Uganda.

Last week, Mpuuga through his office organized a two-day retreat where the opposition across party lines discussed constitutional and electoral reforms as means to achieve change in Uganda. In a statement, Kyagulanyi who also spoke at the retreat at Speke Resort Munyonyo said that the National Unity Platform believes that Uganda deserves better laws and policies, including better electoral laws. He, however, noted that under the present military regime, these reforms cannot be allowed to sail through.

“The NRM would use their manufactured numbers to block any meaningful reforms and predictably use that opportunity to bring in laws that further derail and defeat democratic rule. We also believe that despite their flaws, the current laws if implemented would guarantee fair play and sanity in elections. However, the criminal regime has always ignored them and carried out the worst forms of electoral fraud. Therefore, constitutional and electoral reforms cannot be the solution,” Kyagulanyi said.

He added that it is therefore important to state that the conference organized by Mpuuga was largely consultative, intended to state the aspirations of the people of Uganda and paint a picture of what would be ideal if the country were not under family and military rule.

“The people of Uganda must therefore not bank their hopes on any legislative reforms under Museveni. Our people must continue working hard, using all means necessary to remove a dictatorial regime and establish a legitimate government. It is then that the people of Uganda will come together and chart a way forward on how they desire to be governed,” Kyagulanyi said.

This is not the first time that Kyagulanyi has disagreed publicly with Mpuuga who also doubles as the party’s vice president for Buganda region. Kyagulanyi and many of his supporters believe that Mpuuga and the parliamentary team he leads have not done enough to hold the government accountable, especially regarding human rights violations.

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