The ongoing fallout between National Unity Platform (NUP) president Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, commonly known as Bobi Wine, and former Leader of Opposition Mathias Mpuuga escalated further during the presentation of the 2025/26 Alternative Budget in Parliament.
While addressing the gathering, Kyagulanyi launched a scathing attack on corruption in Parliament, labeling it the “high temple of corruption” and particularly condemning Mpuuga for accepting a service award before fulfilling his duties.
“There is no better place to talk about corruption than here, the Parliament of Uganda, which has distinguished itself in recent days as the high temple of corruption,” Kyagulanyi stated.
He further accused the 11th Parliament of being riddled with corruption scandals, pointing to the iron sheets scandal and Mpuuga’s service award as prime examples of the institution’s failings.
“This Parliament has had the most outrageous scandals recently, with impunity syphoning taxpayers’ money. In recent days, we have seen this Parliament doing unprecedented things. We’ve seen in this Parliament the Speaker of Parliament and government ministers sharing iron sheets meant for the poorest of the poor in Uganda. It is in this Parliament that we’ve seen the Leader of Opposition rewarded before he works,” remarked Kyagulanyi.
Mpuuga was quick to respond to the accusations, dismissing Kyagulanyi’s claims and criticizing his approach to governance, comparing it to managing a concert.
“When you believe that Parliament or government works or budgets like a concert manager where collections are done at the entrance and expenditures from the collections made the following day, your assertion is right,” Mpuuga responded on his X page.
The tension between the two leaders stems from the Shs 500 million service award that Mpuuga received during his tenure as Leader of Opposition.
The NUP leadership strongly opposed the payment saying “it’s moral wrong”and demanded an apology from him, which he refused.
Since then, the relationship between Mpuuga and the party leadership has remained strained.
As a result of the fallout, NUP replaced Mpuuga with Joel Ssenyonyi as the new Leader of Opposition.
Additionally, Mpuuga was removed from his role as the leader of Buganda NUP MPs, with Kivumbu taking over the position.
