The National Unity Platform (NUP) announced last week that no party leader or elected official may hold the same office for more than two consecutive five-year terms.
The amendments were made at the Delegates Conference of the party, which took place on April 15 at the party’s new headquarters in Makerere-Kavule.
The Leader of Opposition in Parliament Mathias Mpuuga, who was not in America at the time of the Delegates Conference has spoken out on the party’s decision.
Mpuuga opposes the development and argues that it will force some of the party’s capable politicians to switch parties or run for office independently.
“A Member of Parliament or a mayor can’t make a final decision. Therefore, even if you haven’t given them a party flag, people can give them another mandate as they wish,” Mpuuga said.
He continued by saying that leadership requires experience, and in the case of Parliament, a legislator is only ripe to begin discussing serious issues on the floor of Parliament after serving two terms, as opposed to when they were still new.
In his opinion, their party will continue to have only inexperienced MPs after serving two terms, which will eventually paint them as a weak party.
Despite this, NUP spokesperson Joel Ssenyonyi stated that the party as a whole stands by the majority’s choice.
In a statement shared over the weekend, the party announced that no party leader can be a party President, Chairperson or Secretary General for more than two terms.
Likewise, a person cannot be a Member of Parliament or Councillor under the NUP flag for more than two terms.
However, it should be noted that this clause will go into effect at the beginning of the 2026 general election.