Why Museveni remains glue that holds NRM together

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OPINION

By Haji Faruk Kirunda

With the grassroots, constituency, district, municipality and city level primary elections of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) as good as done, word on the lips of many is that the party will not remain the same.

Soothsayers claim that the party could disintegrate on account of the divisions that have emerged from the decidedly competitive and tense elections, which saw big names fall, and new faces emerge.

Every political formation faces a risk of implosion by the very nature of politics; high-stakes rivalries that rattle the foundations and create rifts that could rip the whole thing apart. However, there is no alternative to popular democracy.

The option of taking shortcuts, like choosing party candidates in the boardroom or under the table all in the name of preventing “infiltration and divisions” — as some parties claim when tasked with explaining why they deny their members a chance to choose their preferred candidates — is a mockery of democracy and a betrayal of a key pillar for national transformation. If universal adult suffrage (by queuing behind candidates or their agents or portraits) poses any risks, those risks are the price to pay to avoid relapsing into the age-old dictatorship of placing power in the hands of a few.

I am not sure I understand how parties that are handpicking candidates can reconcile their undemocratic behaviour with the fact that they hinged their very existence on accusing NRM of undemocratic tendencies. Who is the dictator now? On top of denying their members the opportunity to vote for flagbearers, the voices of those opposed to bypassing popular channels of choosing cardholders are drowned out. Raising one’s voice gets one expelled or labelled an NRM mole.

These things were happening in the Opposition even before the election season; dissenters are treated with extreme animosity, which explains the emergence of offshoot formations like PFF, DF, CMP and PP.

These are breakaway factions from FDC, NUP and DP. At a time when existing parties should be solidifying themselves, possibly working on a broad coalition, they are splintering into tiny outfits that will eat into one another.

They have no kind words to exchange, as I saw John Kikonyogo of FDC predicting doom and gloom for PFF, which he derided for “building on the sand”, despite snatching some of its major members, including MPs like Ssemujju Nganda and Betty Aol Ochan. Mpuuga’s DF has also been on NUP’s menu and vice versa.

NRM remains one big and expanding bloc, and has been receiving defectors from the Opposition and few or none of consequence of its own crossing the floor.

The party in power enjoys exclusive status as the only one with structures countrywide (We must rub this in!). In all the 353 constituencies from where representatives are directly elected to Parliament and 146 districts/cities, special interest group (SIG) slots; plus all local councils, NRM is set to field candidates. This pre-general election advantage is not lost on observers of the buildup to 2026.

The fallout from the NRM primaries is temporary and manageable and unlikely to dent the party’s overall standing and electoral chances. Aggrieved losers have been accorded a chance to petition the electoral tribunal. Backed with evidence of manipulation and tampering, it is easy to establish the facts.

There is no need for “losers” and their supporters to worry or think of defecting or going independent. Their victory is easy to reclaim since the method of lining up behind one’s preferred candidate gives confidence in reporting results as opposed to a secret ballot.

In some places, underhanded arrangements were detected, with a deliberate plan to favour unpopular candidates and overturn the will of the people. I assure members of NRM and all those devoted to transparency in democracy that President Yoweri Museveni, the national chairman of the NRM, does not condone such schemes and has consistently addressed them as much as he can. His hand was nowhere in meddling in the elections.

When the primaries were starting at LC1 level, he was in Rwakitura cell, Nshwerenkye parish in Kiruhura (Nyabushozi County). He only played the overseer’s role. He didn’t engage in voting so as not to be seen taking sides and influencing the people’s decision-making. Throughout the higher-level primaries, he maintained impartiality, only drumming up mass participation and calling for calm and non-violence within the NRM family.

Without the President’s unifying stance and timely guidance, things could have run out of hand. NRM is a busy party, its flag so coveted.

With some of the contenders being moneyed and less concerned with ideological matters or Uganda’s destiny at large, they would do anything to force their way through, even when that endangers the spirit of the party and its future. It is because of Museveni that they are tamed. If he can manage Uganda for 39 years, how can he fail to manage a party he has built from scratch?

Again, this is where seniority, experience, trustworthiness and foresight come in handy. In the hands of novices without pro-people credentials, the party would implode. Primaries or no primaries, secret ballot or queuing, Museveni is the glue that holds NRM together. The party will weather the post-primary storm and face 2026 with great promise and optimism.

The writer is a special assistant to H.E. the President of Uganda — press and mobilisation/ deputy press secretary faruk.kirunda@statehouse.go.ug 0776980486/0783990861