Antiriot Police used teargas to disperse rowdy National Unity Platform-NUP party supporters in Masaka city who were involved in a bitter scuffle over a dispute regarding the party’s mobilization campaigns, known as Kunga.
On Monday afternoon, a group of leaders, led by Masaka City Mayor Florence Namayanja, who also serves as the NUP Chairperson in the area, called for a meeting to address various issues, including pronouncing themselves on party members who had defected to the Patriotic League of Uganda-PLU, a political pressure group led by General Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
However, the meeting convened at the NUP party offices on Hobert Street in Masaka City, was disrupted by a group of angry youths who accused the conveners of having selfish intentions and issuing uncoordinated statements.
A scuffle ensued when Steven Lukyamuzi, the Kimanya-Kabonera division Chairperson, began reading a press statement asserting the support of all party members in Masaka for the Kunga mobilization campaign and their allegiance to decisions made by the party headquarters.
The situation escalated when several youths from the audience grabbed the statement from Lukyamuzi and tore it apart, alleging misrepresentation of their views and causing misunderstandings among the party’s top leadership.
In the chaos, NUP supporters surrounded the meeting conveners, and Masaka City Mayor Florence Namayanja was hit with a plastic chair thrown at her forehead, prompting antiriot police intervention to restore order.
Ibrahim Mutesaasira, a NUP Party mobilizer in Masaka, blames the scuffle on top NUP leaders, accusing them of undermining local party structures and targeting elected leaders for personal gain. He specifically mentions Nyendo-Mukungwe MP Mathias Mpuuga Nsamba, whom the party intends to recall from the Parliamentary Commission over a service award controversy.
Mutesaasira asserts that the defectors to the PLU, including some NUP councilors, are part of the disputed Kunga mobilization campaign, alleging that their actions were orchestrated by certain party leaders now acting hypocritically.
Masaka City Mayor Florence Namayanja declined to comment on the incident, while Steven Lukyamuzi, Chairperson for the Kimanya-Kabonera division, reiterated their commitment to standing by and adhering to the directives of the party leadership.
Meanwhile, the Police have ordered the closure of the NUP offices for an unspecified period to prevent similar incidents from occurring.
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