However, Sseggona maintains that if his relationship with Mpuuga is the reason for the mouse-cat relations between him and the party, he maintains that everybody is at liberty to choose a way to follow and, after all he argues, even the court ruled in favour of Mpuuga.
Ten MPs subscribing to the National Unity Platform (NUP) are at crossroads and grappling for the next course of action after losing the party cards to newcomers in the constituencies.
And all indicators show that their trouble began with aligning with Nyendo-Mukungwe MP and head of the Democratic Front (DF) party Mathias Mpuuga Nsamba, known to have fallen apart with NUP head Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu.
When the two developed a bitter relationship over the sh500m parliamentary ‘handshake’ to Mpuuga, nobody at the time expected that the aftermath would spill to other NUP activists but when a suggestion to pass a vote of no confidence to Mpuuga and other parliamentary commissioners Solomon Silwany, Prossy Akampulira and Esther Afoyocan, then things took another shape.
In the fallout with his boss Kyagulamnyi, some MPs sided with Mpuuga and backed his claim that the money was not a bribe; these included Medard Lubega Sseggona (Busiro East), Joyce Bagala (Mityana Woman MP), Michael Kakembo (Entebbe Municipality), Juliet Nakabuye (Masaka City Woman MP) and Abed Bwanika (Kimaanya-Kabonera).
Others who fell on Mpuuga’s side included Veronica Nanyondo (Bukomansimbi Woman MP) and Charles Tebandeke (Bbaale), but the last two later apologized to NUP and were pardoned. Sseggona and Bagala saw no fault in necessitating their apology, but later insisted that they wanted the party blessing for the forthcoming elections. They were denied the cards.
However, Sseggona maintains that if his relationship with Mpuuga is the reason for the mouse-cat relations between him and the party, he maintains that everybody is at liberty to choose a way to follow and, after all he argues, even the court ruled in favour of Mpuuga.
But according to a Kampala University political lecturer, Siraje Nsanja, the sh500m was just an excuse but that there were earlier and deeper reasons for the bad blood.
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The issue was actually brought up to show who had a sharper edge as far as name calling is concerned, and when one group felt they had had enough, they formulated a new party the DF.
It was then decided that even the remnants be swept away; the issue was deeper than the sh500m because this is a drop in the ocean compared to losing a whole MP.
Another Makerere University Political lecturer, Jonathan Ahimbisibwe opines that Mpuuga’s issue was handled more politically than legally.
Some MPs who were far sighted foresaw the current development taking shape, but those who did not, similarly saw no reason for apologizing and were consequently seen as being insubordinate to the big man (Bobi Wine).
Ahimbisibwe is of the view that party members are not willing to bend to binding internal decisions to kill speed, adding that all political parties were built on dictatorial foundations.