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National Unity Platform (NUP) Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya has rubbished reports that tens of thousands of opposition supporters have crossed over to the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM).
The controversy arose after state-owned New Vision reported that more than 30,000 NUP supporters were received by President Yoweri Museveni at Kololo this week.
Rubongoya, in a statement shared on X, said the figures were exaggerated and part of a wider scheme to create the illusion of mass defections from the opposition.
“The lack of shame! Yesterday, regime agents were talking about 1,000 people… which was fake and false itself. Taxis and buses were seen and filmed ferrying people to Kololo as they always do. And now the New Vision out of the blue says they were 30,000 people,” Rubongoya wrote, calling the reports “ridiculous.”
The opposition figure argued that the ruling party has consistently relied on inflated statistics and staged events to discredit NUP, which has emerged as its strongest challenger in recent years.
He added that such claims will eventually be used by historians to highlight “the absurdity of the dictatorship.”
His remarks come at a time when the political atmosphere remains tense, with NUP accusing the government of repression and manipulation of public perception.
The ruling NRM, on the other hand, maintains that growing defections reflect a decline in opposition influence.
Political analysts note that the battle over numbers has become a central theme in Uganda’s politics, with both government and opposition seeking to demonstrate popular legitimacy.
However, critics argue that choreographed defections rarely translate into actual grassroots support.
Rubongoya’s dismissal is the latest in a series of NUP responses aimed at countering state media narratives that suggest a weakening of Uganda’s main opposition movement.