NUP Woman MP Candidate for Ibanda Defects to NRM Days to Polls

Ibanda, Uganda — The National Unity Platform (NUP) Woman Member of Parliament candidate for Ibanda District, Patricia Kenyangi, has defected to the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), just 11 days to polling day.

Kenyangi formally withdrew her candidature through a handwritten letter addressed to the Ibanda District Returning Officer, in which she asked the Electoral Commission to deregister her as the NUP flag bearer for the 2026–2031 parliamentary term.

In the letter dated December 31, Kenyangi said she had taken the decision after “careful consideration,” requesting that her withdrawal as the district woman MP candidate be effected with immediate effect.

Speaking to reporters after her defection, Kenyangi cited lack of financial facilitation from the NUP leadership as the main reason behind her decision to cross to the NRM.

She said both she and her husband, Peter Mpaka — the former NUP flag bearer for Mbarara City North who defected to the NRM last month — had expected campaign support from NUP president Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, but the promised funds never came.

“We were told support would come to help us run our campaigns, but nothing materialised. It became impossible to continue,” Kenyangi said.

Her defection follows a growing pattern of last-minute exits from the opposition party as candidates complain of logistical and financial constraints ahead of polling day.

The development is a boost for the ruling National Resistance Movement, which has intensified efforts to consolidate support in western Uganda, a region traditionally seen as one of its strongholds.

Officials from the National Unity Platform had not immediately commented on Kenyangi’s claims by the time of publication.