By Aggrey Baba
Barely a week into the 2026 election campaigns, the National Unity Platform (NUP) is already feeling the weight after being excluded from government funding. The Kavule-based political party has taken the Attorney General, Kiryowa Kiwanuka, and the Electoral Commission (EC) to court, challenging a directive they say threatens their operations.
The legal row stems from a directive by Justice Minister Norbert Mao in August, instructing the EC to give public funds to only six parties, leaving NUP out. Under a recent amendment to the Political Parties and Organisations Act, only parties that join the Inter-Party Organisation for Dialogue (IPOD) are eligible for government funding, and NUP is not a member.
Before the amendment, parties with parliamentary seats could receive funding based on their numbers, and now, NUP argues that the new directive is illegal and was issued before the rules to implement it were in place, making it null and void.
Party Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya, NUP only learned of the IPOD funding decisions through media reports, leaving the party caught off guard.
Rubongoya described the exclusion as [a sudden storm hitting a ship already at full sail], saying it could seriously weaken NUP’s campaign machinery. According to media reports, Rubongoya said: “Our operations risk sputtering out if we cannot access funds meant to support active parties.”
The case is scheduled for mention on October 10 before Justice Collins Accellam.
Observers say the funding exclusion is a strategic move that puts NUP on the back foot just as campaigns begin, just like tilting the playing field overnight, and now, NUP faces the challenge of running its campaigns while navigating this financial drought.
The Kavule-based party is asking court to annul the Mao’s directive, stop the EC from giving funds to the other parties, and compel government to release NUP’s share.
