Kampala — The Common Man’s Party has descended into open warfare. In a lightning purge that reeks of retaliation, party president Mubarak Munyagwa has indefinitely suspended Secretary General Moses Bigirwa barely 48 hours after Bigirwa went public accusing the former presidential candidate of abandoning the party he claims to lead.
The bombshell suspension, confirmed in a letter to the Electoral Commission dated November 5 and received November 6, was rubber-stamped by an Extraordinary National Executive Committee. The stated reason: “substantial misconduct.” No details. No charges. No hearing disclosed. Just the knife.
Acting replacements were installed on the spot: Ropan Proscovia as Acting SG (research) and Semmindi Asadullah as Acting SG (administration and liaison). The message to the rank-and-file was clear — cross the boss and you’re gone.
The trigger was Bigirwa’s explosive November 4 outburst. The SG told the nation that Munyagwa took “leave” after his humiliating seventh-place finish in the 2026 presidential race (31,666 votes, 0.29%) and never returned to party headquarters. “We see him moving up and down radio stations, television and social media. I called him several times, but he doesn’t answer my calls. I WhatsApp him and send people to look for him, but he doesn’t respond,” Bigirwa said.
Worse, Bigirwa revealed the party had not held a single formal NEC meeting since January. “That raises a leadership crisis within the party. Why are we not sitting?” he asked. Attempts to call a delegates’ conference had also collapsed.
Sources inside CMP describe a party that ran on the slogan of sharing the national platter with ordinary Ugandans but is now devouring itself. The once-photogenic duo — Munyagwa and Bigirwa smiling over a steaming tray of pilau at every launch — has turned toxic. The same man Munyagwa once praised as “the second biggest name in Busoga after Rebecca Kadaga” is now persona non grata.
Political watchers say the speed of the suspension is the tell. Bigirwa spoke on the 4th. By the 5th he was suspended. No public defence. No counter-statement from Munyagwa. Just silence from the party president who is still active on airwaves but unreachable to his own secretary general.
This is not the first time Bigirwa has clashed with party bosses. He previously broke with NUP after accusing Bobi Wine’s inner circle of blocking his ambitions. Now the man who helped give CMP its Eastern Uganda muscle has been shown the door.
The party’s symbol — the lusaniya, the communal platter — was meant to represent unity and shared resources. Tonight that platter sits empty while two men who once ate from it fight over who holds the spoon.
Questions are swirling: What exactly is the “substantial misconduct”? Was Bigirwa punished for telling the truth about a missing president? And with no NEC meetings for nearly a year, who really runs the Common Man’s Party?
For a formation that promised to be the voice of the common man, the latest drama looks uncomfortably like the elite power games it claimed to reject. The purge is on. The platter is broken. And Uganda’s newest opposition party is eating itself alive.
The post BLOOD ON THE PLATTER — Munyagwa Axes Fellow Political Hustler Bigirwa in Shock CMP Purge After “Where Is the President?” Rebellion appeared first on Watchdog Uganda.