NUP bows to financial pressure, signals willingness to join IPOD

KAMPALA: The National Unity Platform (NUP) has formally written to the Inter-Party Organisation for Dialogue (IPOD) Secretariat, expressing its intention to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) required for membership, in compliance with the recent amendments to the Political Parties and Organisations Act (2005).

In a letter addressed to the Secretary to the Council of the Inter-Party Organisation for Dialogue, dated October 7, 2025, NUP Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya noted that while the party is challenging the new law before the Constitutional Court, it recognizes that the amendment remains binding until ruled otherwise.

“The National Unity Platform has been and remains an active member of the National Consultative Forum,” Rubongoya stated. “Although we are challenging the referenced amendment before the Constitutional Court, we are cognizant that it is the current and binding law. In light of this, the National Unity Platform would like to sign the MOU given that we are members of the applicable constitutive organ of the National Consultative Forum by law, as we await the decision of the Constitutional Court.”

The letter marks a significant shift in NUP’s position, as the party had previously declined to join IPOD, arguing that it could not engage in dialogue with the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) under what it described as “unfair political conditions.”

The development follows a May 2025 amendment to the Political Parties and Organisations Act, which introduced new requirements for political party participation in state funding mechanisms. The amendment, spearheaded by Napak District Woman MP Faith Nakut, made it mandatory for political parties with representation in Parliament to join IPOD if they wish to access government funding.

The Bill received unanimous support from the NRM caucus during a meeting chaired by President Yoweri Museveni at State House, Entebbe. Under the new framework, the National Consultative Forum (NCF) now hosts two key organs — the Inter-Party Organisation for Dialogue (IPOD) for represented parties and the Forum for Non-Represented Political Parties and Organisations for smaller, unrepresented entities.

While NUP has consistently criticized IPOD as an ineffective platform dominated by the ruling party, its latest move indicates a pragmatic approach to comply with the law while continuing its constitutional challenge.