NUP Founding President Moses Kibalama Goes Missing Again Ahead of Key Court Ruling Likely to Dissolve Party!

In a fresh twist to the leadership wrangles that have rocked Uganda’s biggest opposition party, the National Unity Platform (NUP), the founding president, Moses Nkonge Kibalama, has reportedly gone missing—just weeks to a critical court ruling slated for August 20, 2025, a ruling legal pundits say could dissolve the party.

Kibalama, who initially handed over the National Unity Reconciliation and Development Party (NURP) to Hon. Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu alias Bobi Wine, is said to have disappeared nearly four months ago, leaving his legal team led by Paul Simbwa Kagombe in panic ahead of the court date where Kibalama is expected to be a key witness.

Kibalama is the key plaintiff in this case where we’re challenging NUP’s current leadership, but even his lawyer can’t access him, a member of his team revealed. He’s supposed to sign documents and provide certain information vital to the case, but he has completely vanished.

Sources allege that he was picked from his residence in Buwambo by state operatives, and has since been confined in a luxury hotel in Kampala under the guise of undergoing treatment—with neither family nor legal access.

“We believe they are using his name to justify billions they quoted recently, allegedly for an ‘understanding’. Eventually, they’ll claim Shs46 billion was spent on treatment and accommodation”, the source added.

From Delegates Conference to Deep Division

This high-stakes legal war traces its origin to a Wakiso Delegates Conference in 2019, when Bobi Wine and his People Power team were controversially ushered into the party leadership structure. What started as a political merger soon snowballed into a full-blown takeover, with Kibalama and Kagombe being edged out and NURP rebranded to NUP, now under Kyagulanyi’s full control.

Kagombe insists that this transition was illegal, emphasizing that NUP’s current leadership is operating without legitimate mandate or legal basis.

The group’s affidavit filed in court warns:

“The current activities of the Respondents in operating and running the party based on the impugned constitution are a grave violation of the laws governing Political Parties and Organizations in Uganda.” They further accuse Kyagulanyi’s camp of using a non-existent constitution, contrary to the one registered with the Electoral Commission when NURP was first licensed in 2004:

“The said acts and omissions of the Respondents amount to conducting the affairs of a Political Party contrary to the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, the Political Parties and Organizations Act, 2005, and the Constitution of the Party as registered with the Electoral Commission in 2004.”

State Protection:

Kagombe’s team now believes the State may be working in cahoots with Bobi Wine’s NUP to derail the court process, despite claiming publicly to oppose the party’s activities. “If the government is truly in competition with NUP as they claim, this court case should be their golden bullet. It challenges the foundation on which NUP exists. But instead, they’re hiding Kibalama—the main witness—and preventing the case from progressing. We now have reasons to believe Kyagulanyi is a state craft,” added the source.

The affidavit also outlines what they term illegal occupation of party offices and misuse of state funds:

“The Respondents continue to illegally occupy and operate offices of the Party without any lawful authority or mandate and continue to access public funds allocated to the Party by the Government of Uganda through the Electoral Commission under the Political Parties and Organizations Act.”

Moreover, the document accuses the current NUP leadership of outright defiance of judicial authority:

“The Respondents have continuously acted with impunity by disregarding lawful court orders, directions, and injunctions issued by competent courts of law.” Kagombe says this defiance is evidence of political protection from the State, especially as the party continues to receive Shs5 billion annually in public funding via parliament despite the unresolved legal challenges.

SG Rubongoya Responds;

In an exclusive phone interview with our Chief Spy Andrew Irumba Katusabe, NUP’s Secretary General, Lewis Rubongoya dismissed the allegations. “There’s no cause for alarm my comrade Irumba, those are our brothers who are being used by the state to fight us. But I don’t want to comment so much on their matters because they’re in court. I thought there were new issues they were raising rather than those already known by public. On the alligations that we chased them, no we didn’t. We’re a mass party, I think you’ve been following that they’re the ones who left the party here at Kavule and went and opened another office somewhere (I think you know), so we’re always open here,” he told our reporter on Sunday when we sought his comment.

As the court date draws closer, Kibalama’s continued disappearance is likely to raise tension, and possibly derail the case that could redefine Uganda’s opposition landscape. Whether he resurfaces before August 20 or not, the battle over who rightfully owns NUP is heading to a climax—with far-reaching implications