The opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) has fired back at Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Norbert Mao, rejecting his threats to cut off political funding to the party over its continued refusal to join the Inter-Party Organization for Dialogue (IPOD).
Minister Mao, while addressing the media, announced that five political parties including the Democratic Party (DP), National Resistance Movement (NRM), Uganda People’s Congress (UPC), JEEMA, and the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) had signed on to work together under the IPOD framework.
He further revealed that Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) had formally written to express interest in joining, leaving NUP as the notable outlier.
In a tough stance, Mao warned that political parties that refuse to join IPOD risk losing access to government campaign financing.
“Any political party that doesn’t subscribe to IPOD shall not get mandated money for campaign from government,” Mao said.
But NUP spokesperson Joel Ssenyonyi quickly hit back, dismissing the remarks as an attempt at political blackmail and asserting that the party would not be intimidated into joining the forum.
“If Minister Norbert Mao thinks that by threatening to cancel political funding to NUP, he will force us to join IPOD, he is wrong,” Ssenyonyi told reporters.
Ssenyonyi further stated that Norbert Mao is not a reliable partner, pointing out that when Mao joined the coalition with the ruling government, he promised to negotiate President Museveni’s peaceful exit from power.
However, Ssenyonyi noted that Museveni was recently seen picking nomination forms to contest again, which he said contradicts Mao’s earlier assurances and raises questions about the credibility of their agreement.
“Hon. Nobert Mao joined government saying he wasn’t doing this for himself, but for Ugandans, ofcourse we knew this was deceptive. He said he was going there to negotiate with Gen. Museveni so that he can leave power, but Gen. Museveni even in his 80s has picked forms to run again,”
NUP, which emerged as Uganda’s leading opposition party in the 2021 general elections, has long expressed skepticism about IPOD’s neutrality, often describing it as a political smokescreen used to sanitise authoritarian governance.
Ssenyonyi reaffirmed NUP’s commitment to the rule of law, pointing out that the party remains active in other legally recognized political structures.
“Our party treasurer, Benjamin Katana, serves as the vice president of the National Consultative Forum, as established by law,” he said.
