Nambooze therefore requested that the vetting committee makes arrangements to conduct the exercise from the hospital where she is admitted, or to conduct the process via the ZOOM platform, or alternatively reschedule the vetting under suitable circumstances.
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Mukono Municipality Member of Parliament, Betty Nambooze Bakireke on Friday failed to show up for the National Unity Platform’s (NUP) vetting exercise held at the party headquarters at Kavule.
Though she did not show up for the vetting exercise, following her ill-health, Nambooze who is currently admitted at one of the health facilities which is not disclosed, the legislator says she officially sent a communication explaining the reason as to why she skipped the mandatory exercise.
“Allow me to briefly introduce myself to the Committee. I am Hon. Bakireke Nambooze Betty, a mature adult, long-serving legislator, and the current Member of Parliament for Mukono Municipality. Over the years, I have dedicated my public life to championing democracy, social justice, and the rights of ordinary Ugandans, while also working to strengthen the voice of the people of Mukono at the national level. In addition to my parliamentary duties, I serve as the Chairperson of the National Unity Platform in Mukono District, a responsibility through which I continue to nurture and guide the party’s growth in one of its strongest bases,” reads part of Nambooze’s communication to NUP Election Management Committee (EMC).
“My experience, maturity, and steadfast commitment to our party’s values have made me a reliable leader and representative of our people. This letter serves to inform you that I will regrettably be unable to physically attend the vetting process for Members of Parliament scheduled for Friday, 19th September 2025, as I am currently bedridden in hospital under medical care.”
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Nambooze therefore requested that the vetting committee makes arrangements to conduct the exercise from the hospital where she is admitted, or to conduct the process via the ZOOM platform, or alternatively reschedule the vetting under suitable circumstances.
“This will ensure that I do not miss out on this important process due to circumstances beyond my control,” she said.
However, according to the social media messages which had started making rounds, claiming that Nambooze had skipped the vetting process just because of fear to be embarrassed, and other reasons, Nambooze made a statement on one of the social media platforms explaining the circumstances under which she failed to turn up for the vetting exercise.
She said; “One woman if spreading falsehoods that I withdrew from the race just because I failed to turnup for the vetting exercise. I think what she is thinking together with her friends with whom they are carrying empty heads is that I spent time in the hospital and failed to write to the NUP EMC,” said Nambooze as she also availed a copy of her letter to the vetting committee.
“Nakyala omu ali mu kwesudiiya – Atambuuza bino mbu Nambooze yavuddemu teyabadde mu vetting – ndowooza kyalowooza ne banne emitwe bwegibamenyera obwerere nti nze nabadde mu ddwaliro nesiwandikiira Kakiiko ka byakulonda kumannya kyempitaamu!” Nambooze’s message as shared in Luganda.
“Imagine, a person who was visited by the party president, Leader of Opposition in Parliament (LOP), who is at the same time the party spokesperson, the party secretary general, God has blessed us, given the fact that we are an asset in NUP,” she said.
She urged the party members and her supporters to wait for the day which will be given to her in a special consideration to also be vetted to back her up as she will be going to the party headquarters for the vetting.
If given a party card after the vetting, Nambooze will, among others be facing off with, Rev. Dr. Peter Bakaluba Mukasa, the Mukono district chairperson who declared his parliamentary bid after losing the NUP flag to Johnson Muyanja Ssenyonga.
Bakaluba accused Nambooze of witch-hunt, having seduced Muyanja to leave Mukono South constituency which he had showed interest into to again stand for the district chairmanship, which the latter had almost secured unopposed.
Bakaluba, who was then of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) representing Mukono North constituency in the Parliament lost the seat in a by-election in 2009 to then Democratic Party’s (DP) Betty Nambooze Bakireke.
Though the duo seemed to have buried their hatchet in 2020 when Nambooze introduced Bakaluba to NUP and gave him support for the district chairmanship which he won, they failed to make peace throughout their five years of the concluding political term.
Bakaluba refused to work under Nambooze’s armpits as claimed by his supporters, and he declined to follow her orders as it used to be with the previous leaders on either formerly DP or now NUP leadership.
Nambooze recently claimed that Bakaluba refused to adhere to the advice of the top NUP leadership, the principal, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, inclusive, more so on the matter of the stalled District Service Commission.
She instead said that Bakaluba, though he claimed to be a member of NUP, but he spent the whole of his leadership dancing on the tunes of the NRM.
“For his entire term of office, Bakaluba did not organize a single district function and invited the NUP top leaders as guests. Imagine, even when the president (Kyagulanyi) held a mobilisation rally in Mukono, Bakaluba did not show up, now how again does he blame me for losing the party card instead of blaming himself?” Nambooze said recently.