The National Unity Platform (NUP) has formally written to the Inter-Party Organisation for Dialogue (IPOD) expressing readiness to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and resume full participation in the dialogue platform.
In the latest correspondence seen by Eagle Online, dated October 7, 2025, addressed to the Secretary to the Council of IPOD, NUP Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya reaffirmed that the party remains a lawful member of the National Consultative Forum despite its earlier withdrawal from IPOD in 2021.
“As you are aware, Parliament recently passed an amendment to the Political Parties and Organisations Act (2005), making it mandatory for all political parties under the National Consultative Forum to either be part of the Inter-Party Organisation for Dialogue or the Forum for Non-Represented Political Parties,” Rubongoya stated.
He added, “The National Unity Platform has been and remains an active member of the National Consultative Forum. Although we are challenging the amendment before the Constitutional Court, we are cognizant that it is the current and binding law.”
NUP’s fresh communication follows a series of letters it issued in September 2025, protesting its exclusion from IPOD and NCF engagements even after the amendment made membership compulsory. The party had earlier accused the organizers of sidelining it from key meetings, including one held on September 18, 2025, to discuss the implementation of the new law.
In one of the earlier protest letters, Rubongoya wrote, “We protested against the illegal exclusion of the National Unity Platform from discussions relating to the National Consultative Forum and its constitutive organs, including the Inter-Party Organisation for Dialogue.”
He further emphasized that such actions were not only “unlawful” but also undermined the principles of political inclusivity envisioned under the new legal framework. “Yet again, the National Unity Platform is being illegally excluded from these discussions,” the September 17 letter read in part.
NUP has since requested the Electoral Commission to ensure that discussions under IPOD and NCF comply with the amended law and that all political parties are fully represented. “We therefore request the Electoral Commission, being the custodian of political parties in Uganda, to ensure that all discussions related to the amended law are inclusive and conducted in accordance with the law,” Rubongoya stated.
The National Unity Platform previously withdrew from IPOD in 2021, citing alleged bias and state influence over the forum. The party’s exit meant it forfeited access to over Shs1 billion in annual facilitation funds shared among member parties under the IPOD arrangement, coordinated by the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD).
However, following the 2025 amendment to the Political Parties and Organisations Act, participation in either IPOD or the Forum for Non-Represented Political Parties became a legal requirement for all registered political parties, prompting NUP to re-engage despite its pending court challenge.
NUP’s latest letter indicates willingness to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IPOD “as required by law” while awaiting the Constitutional Court’s decision on its petition against the amendment.
The party says it remains committed to lawful political engagement.
“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,” Rubongoya noted.
