NUP Launches Fundraising Drive to Counter Financial Starvation by State Legislation

By Uganda Today Reporter
Published on: www.ugandatoday.co.ug

In a defiant response to what it terms as “orchestrated financial starvation” by the ruling regime, the National Unity Platform (NUP) yesterday launched a public fundraising campaign at its headquarters located at Makerere Kavule along Bombo Road. The campaign aims to mobilize financial resources to sustain what the party calls an “irreversible struggle to unseat the Museveni regime.”

The party’s leadership, speaking before a charged crowd of supporters and journalists, said the initiative was necessitated by the recent amendments to the Inter-Party Organisation for Dialogue (IPOD) Act, which President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni assented to earlier this year. The amendments, according to NUP, were deliberately crafted to exclude the largest opposition political party from accessing public funding provided for under the Political Parties and Organisations Act.

“This is not just a war of ideas—it is a war of survival. The Museveni regime has now moved from brutalising our people to starving our party by manipulating laws to cripple us financially,” said NUP Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya during the launch.

The IPOD Amendment Act now makes it mandatory for political parties to be part of the IPOD platform in order to access government funding—an act that NUP has consistently rejected, describing IPOD as a “toothless, regime-serving forum designed to legitimise dictatorship under the guise of dialogue.”

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NUP President Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, who addressed the nation led the fundraiser with a donation of 10m shillings, said the party would not bow to pressure or blackmail aimed at compromising its revolutionary values.

“We will not be lured into dining with those who murder our people and violate our Constitution. If refusing to join IPOD means being starved, then so be it. We shall depend on our people. The power belongs to them,” Kyagulanyi stated.

He went on to call upon all well-wishers, both local and in the diaspora, to contribute to the cause of liberating Uganda from what he described as a “militarised kleptocracy.”

The IPOD Controversy

Formed to foster dialogue among political parties in Uganda, IPOD has long been criticised by opposition formations as a ceremonial body dominated by the National Resistance Movement (NRM). While funding for political parties is constitutionally enshrined under Article 71, the recent amendment effectively ties public financing to a party’s willingness to participate in IPOD activities—something NUP views as coercive and undemocratic.

Analysts say the move is aimed at financially crippling NUP, which in the 2021 elections emerged as Uganda’s leading opposition party, commanding a large base of youthful supporters nationwide.

“This is a calculated form of financial asphyxiation,” said political commentator Dr. Sarah Bireete of the Center for Constitutional Governance. “It is unconstitutional to tie a party’s lawful entitlement to public resources to its presence in a dialogue forum. This is not dialogue—it’s extortion in broad daylight.”

Digital and Grassroots Fundraising

The new NUP fundraising campaign is expected to leverage online platforms, mobile money contributions, and diaspora networks. Party officials disclosed that dedicated merchant codes and secure portals have already been established to receive funds.

A Test of Resilience

With President Museveni expected to run for a seventh term in 2026, the coming months are likely to witness intensified political manoeuvres. For NUP, the fundraising campaign is more than just an appeal for cash—it is a litmus test for its grassroots legitimacy and internal organisation.

“This is our moment to prove that we are a people-powered movement. If we cannot fund our own liberation, then we don’t deserve it,” declared NUP Deputy President Lina Zedriga.

As Uganda’s political atmosphere heats up ahead of the next electoral cycle, the tug-of-war over party financing and the role of IPOD is set to redefine the nature of opposition politics in the country.

Editor’s Note: Uganda Today remains committed to balanced political reporting. We welcome rejoinders or statements from the NRM and IPOD Secretariat regarding this story.

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