We can’t eject Museveni, says NUP leader after supporters injured in Busia fight
National Unity Platform (NUP) supporters admitted at Dabani Hospital in Busia District, eastern Uanda after being attacked by stick-wielding youth at the Busia party office on May 5, 2024. PHOTO/DAVID AWORI
What you need to know:
- He said infighting among key party members had frustrated the registration and issuance of party cards for new party members after some supporters, he branded “NRM moles”, reportedly raided homes of the appointed registrars and confiscated party cards and register books.
- Mr Kaluya was speaking from Busia Police Station where he had gone to secure the release of some party members who had been arrested after a fight broke out between rival factions at the Bukedi region party offices in Busia District at the weekend, leaving five supporters hospitalised.
With just over a year left to the 2026 General Elections, a senior member of the National Unity Platform (NUP) concedes it will be hard for them to unseat President Museveni.
The Eastern region NUP chairman, Andrew Kizza Kaluya, told some party members that amidst the “infighting and confusion” in the leading Opposition party, it was becoming “next to impossible” to eject President Museveni who has been in power for nearly four decades.
His comments come as the party has endured political upheavals, including alleged mudslinging and mistrust among some members, which has threatened its existence.
“We are spending a lot of time fighting each other instead of carrying out mobilisation which I think is working in favour of Mr Museveni,” Kaluya said on Monday.
He said whereas his election as the interim (Busia) District chairman by the party hierarchy was meant to promote sanity and unity among the members, it was becoming a herculean task.
“From the time I was appointed interim NUP chairman for Busia District, I have suffered a lot of attacks and abuses on social media by some people who claim to be members of our party who are bent on divisions,” he said.
He said infighting among key party members had frustrated the registration and issuance of party cards for new party members after some supporters, he branded “NRM moles”, reportedly raided homes of the appointed registrars and confiscated party cards and register books.
Mr Kaluya was speaking from Busia Police Station where he had gone to secure the release of some party members who had been arrested after a fight broke out between rival factions at the Bukedi region party offices in Busia District at the weekend, leaving five supporters hospitalised.
The injured are NUP foot soldiers who had been guarding the party offices ahead of a planned meeting, when a group of stick and stone-wielding youth attacked them.
Mr George Wafula, a party mobiliser and a member on the interim committee, said he had seen a group of “funny-looking youth” arrive at the office, armed with sticks and stones, and when the foot soldiers guarding the offices tried to stop them, they physically assaulted whoever they came across.
At the end of the melee, five foot soldiers were seriously injured, while party offices were vandalised and some houses in the neighbourhood were damaged.
Mr Abdu Musa Were, Mahande Wesonga and Livingstone Barasa Mabachi, a trio accused of being behind the chaos, have, however denied mobilising the youth and blamed Wafula for reportedly deploying a group of boxers at the party offices.
Mahande, who is a councilor representing Marachi in Busia Eastern Division, said the fight started after the foot soldiers who had been deployed at offices stopped him from accessing the meeting venue despite being “one of the few elected party leaders”.
Mr Were accuses Wafula of starting the fight with the aim of beating whoever was not in his favour.
Mr Henry Oundo, who operates a shop near the NUP offices, had his house damaged during the fight, saying he had earlier seen a group of “strange-looking” men armed with sticks and stones, and in less than five minutes, there was a stampede at the NUP offices.
Police responded by firing teargas to disperse the youth and in the process arrested some of the attackers and party supporters.
Bukedi South Region Police Spokesman, Moses Mugwe, said they had deployed at the NUP offices following fights among rival factions.
“We intervened and arrested several people who were causing violence at the NUP offices,” he said, adding that among the injured, who are admitted to Dabani Hospital, is Robert Wafula, Joseph Wandera and Godfrey Manyuru, while two others are admitted at Busia Health Centre IV.
Wandera, who sustained deep cuts on the head and was bleeding through the ears, described his attackers as “being well-trained in street fighting”.
He said the group had first engaged them in a fistfight and when they realised that they were being overpowered, they resorted to using stones and sticks.
Mugwe blamed NUP party leaders for convening their meeting without informing the police, which he said was ‘improper’.
“Even though their meeting was internal and involving few people, it was proper that they notified police because we are there to protect all Ugandans and their property,” he said.
This is not the first time NUP supporters at fighting at party offices.
The Busia clashes come after police on March 18, 2024 fired teargass and live bullets to disperse warring camps of opposition NUP as they exchanged blows over the party's mobilization strategy commonly known as “Kunga Uganda” in Masaka City.
Members from the two camps, one led by Masaka City Mayor Florence Namayanja and the other associating with under pressure former Leader of Opposition in Parliament (LoP) Mathias Mpuuga, had convened at the party offices in the city to dissociate themselves from seven area councilors who joined the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU).
PLU describes itself as a pressure group led by first son Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who visited the area days before the fight.
