Party politics in NUP nips people power

Shamim Malende at a court appearance in Masaka for the bail hearing of Eddie Mutwe and others. (Shamim Malende) 

High-stake games for 2026 constituency slots become flashpoints

NEWS ANALYSIS | IAN KATUSIIME | The red beret, once a symbol of defiant unity, is now a flashpoint in the National Unity Platform (NUP) as internal feuds threaten to unravel the party’s cohesion ahead of the 2026 elections. The most contentious of these battles is the fight for the Kampala Woman Member of Parliament ticket, a race that has put the party’s principles on trial.

Although it is two months before official campaigns kick off, NUP appears to be in the belly of a beast—unable to name flag-bearers in critical constituencies and sailing through an acrimonious flagbearer contest that could leave the party wounded in the last stretch.

According to the Electoral Commission roadmap, nomination of candidates for Parliamentary Elections in line with Section 26 of the Parliamentary Elections Act, Cap 177 will be on September 16–17, 2025. Meanwhile the official campaign period for parliamentary candidates, in line with Section 38 of the same Act, will run from September 23, 2025 to January 12, 2026. Since the three months campaign window is short, many candidates; especially of the ruling NRM party, have already hit the campaign trail leaving NUP in a storm of dust.

At the heart of the storm is Shamim Malende, a lawyer who is the current Kampala Woman MP and `Chairman’ Fred Nyanzi, brother to NUP President Robert Ssentamu Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine.

Nyanzi is vying for the Kawempe South seat where NUP wants a replacement for Bashir Kazibwe, the incumbent MP who ran on a NUP ticket but broke ranks with the party soon after joining parliament by fraternising with NRM. Kazibwe showed the risks of an opposition party faces against an entrenched ruling party like the NRM.

Shamim Malende has become a symbol of unwavering loyalty to the people power foundation of NUP yet in the run-up to the 2026 election, she finds herself on the verge of being sidelined in favour of a new contender.

Malende has just returned from sick leave in Nairobi where she was bedridden for months after being assaulted by security operatives in parliament during an explosive plenary session.

Malende’s rival is Zahrah Luyirika,a KCCA speaker who also strongly identifies with NUP. She has embraced the protest vote mantra and she is laying all it down for a seat in the House. Some party members say she is a newcomer who is threatening to spoil Malende’s party but Luyirika has displayed skills around party politics; attending critical court sessions of jailed NUP members like Eddie Mutwe, Achileo Kivumbi and making stopovers in markets to canvas for votes and spread the NUP gospel.

Her supporters say she has earned her right to be the next Woman MP for the city while others say Malende deserves more compassion and grace from NUP when it comes to the decision of choosing a flagbearer for one of the most important positions in Kampala.

As a lawyer, Malende tirelessly defended hundreds of jailed party supporters, often pro bono, sacrificing her own resources and safety to fight for the foot soldiers of the “People Power” movement. Most prominent of those she represented were the two NUP MPs; Mohammed Ssegirinya and Frank Ssewanyana when they faced murder charges in 2021. Ssegirinya died early this year while Ssewanyana has taken a backseat after two years away from the House.

Malende’s courtroom battles were a front-line extension of the political struggle, earning her the respect and adoration of a dedicated cadre of supporters. For many, she is the embodiment of the party’s core values—sacrifice, loyalty, and a relentless commitment to justice. Her recent hospitalisation appears to have done little to weaken her resolve.

Malende was also in Masaka for the court appearances of Mutwe, Kivumbi and others. She has strong ties to Kampala residents; workers, business people and the NUP establishment. Now, her position is under siege from a challenger who, while popular in her own right, lacks Malende’s historical connection to the movement’s grassroots struggle. The party leadership, in its quest to balance internal dynamics and secure the “safest” bet, has seemingly opened the door to a new guard, creating a two-front war for Malende—one against the political establishment and another against her own party.

At a press conference in July, Malende had a message for her party.

“As a party, let us not forget this is a revolution,” she told journalists.

“I want to urge my party and its election committee, to ensure that if we have several fighters, we should not lose any of them,” she added, “For example being a lawyer and legislator, I have the capacity to interpret a law.”

Nyanzi

The bitter infighting, characterised by toxic online exchanges and public mud-slinging, has exposed a raw, internal conflict between the old guard who built the party on the back of personal sacrifice, and a new wave of political aspirants who see NUP as a vehicle to power. The question now looms: can a party built on a foundation of “People Power” and loyalty survive its own internal power struggles?

The Malende versus Luyirika tussle is not the only race generating internal schisms in the party. Fred Nyanzi’s vying for the Kawempe South seat has raised questions about Bobi Wine’s impartiality. Critics have accused Bobi Wine of nepotism that is long associated with President Museveni and his NRM party.

There have been questions raised about why Nyanzi who sits on the National Executive Council, top administrative body of the party, now wants a lower ticket for the critical constituency.

Critics accuse him of dominating party structures by leveraging his relationship with his brother. Nyanzi has also been accused of selling party tickets and fomenting intrigue through cliques and spreading harmful propaganda in the young party. Although Bobi Wine formed a committee to probe Nyanzi, the questions linger.

Chief among Nyanzi’s critics is Roy Semboga, his rival for the ticket. Semboga says he should be granted the ticket because he was born and raised in Kawempe unlike Nyanzi. Semboga is a former guild president at Makerere University which also falls under the area—he has used his history as his campaign strategy while labelling Nyanzi as an overlord. “I think the odds are against him, not me,” he said in an interview.

In early August, an angry mob threatened to lynch Nyanzi as he moved in the area campaigning. The residents yelled that he was not welcome in the area, sending him into a quick humiliating escape.

Latif Sebagala, a former MP for Kawempe North, has also rapped Nyanzi for his politics. Ssebagala who is contesting for mayor of Kawempe, says Nyanzi has a knack for scheming and politicking that is detrimental to the party.

The positions of Bobi Wine, Joel Ssenyonyi, NUP spokesperson and Leader of Opposition, and David Rubongoya, secretary general, have come under scrutiny. The triumvirate is seen as the leadership of the party upon whom national strategy and major decision rest. They are young, intelligent and passionate about NUP as a force for change.

Bobi Wine is contesting for a second time as a presidential candidate in what he has termed as a protest vote—going all in in spite of the huge odds; NRM’s war chest, state machinery and its popularity across the country. He is unchallenged for the party ticket but faces the daunting task of resolving party divisions where his brother is at the centre of most controversies.

Rubongoya is gunning for Kampala Central MP; a critical node in Kampala politics that has varying stakeholders. As Secretary General of NUP, he has a busy schedule and is tasked with administration and management, and observers say his entry into parliamentary seat race is a new dimension as one of the most watched party officials in the country. He is also unchallenged for the ticket and is a favourite for the seat.

Ssenyonyi wants another term as Nakawa West MP. He is going into the election with the double advantage of being LOP and one of the most recognised people in Kampala.

Despite facing a relentless wave of state-sponsored harassment, including the brutal crackdown on its rallies, offices and the arrest of key leaders, NUP’s defiant show of force in the last five years has been a test of its resilience, analysts say.

Amidst heavy militarisation and intimidation, the party has continued to mobilise and build on its groundswell of support, particularly in the urban centers that are the traditional strongholds of the opposition.

Political pundits say the “People Power” movement can still mobilize its base and translate that passion into votes. It is this defiant spirit that NUP is now banking on to propel its march toward the 2026 elections, hoping to replicate on a national scale the model of resistance and mass mobilisation that it used to cling on to the Kawempe North constituency in a recent by-election.

The election of NUP’s Erias Nalukoola was won in the face of a full-fledged military operation where baklava masked soldiers dragged and arrested voters from nomination booths, beat up journalists, and fired live bullets at civilians.

The lawyer-cum-politician snatched victory from Faridah Nambi Kigongo; the well-heeled daughter of Moses Kigongo, the 1st National Vice Chairman of the ruling NRM party headed by President Yoweri Museveni.

Museveni led a raft of national big names that stumped for Nambi in the poverty-infested constituency that boasts over 10 ghetto communities, flood prone low income localities, and crime-riven peri-urban neighbourhoods.

Museveni’s presence charged the atmosphere as police diverted traffic and blocked the opposition vehicle movement. President Museveni campaigned for the NRM candidate.

Faridah Nambi’s father, Moses Kigongo campaigned for her in the scorching March sun, together with the Prime Minister, Robinah Nabbanja and the Minister for Kampala, Minsa Kabanda.

When the state deployed heavily armed soldiers, some on trucks and Army personnel Carriers together with swarms of police and out-of-uniform security personnel riding in the dreaded unmarked state security vans commonly called `Drones’, it was seen as a show of force that would favour the NRM candidate, Faridah Nambi. But it all came to naught.

Although a court ruling quashing his victory has left him in limbo, the win by activist lawyer Erias Nalukoola of the Kawempe North seat in a hotly contested by-election showed what a united NUP can achieve.

Party officials preaching unity as was seen in Kawempe North say avoiding costly and divisive primary races was one way of avoiding the adversarial nature of party politics that is characteristic of the ruling NRM party. But the storm among aspirants for various positions continues