A meeting of the top organ of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) has kicked off at State House, Entebbe, with leaders expected to come up with resolutions concerning the party’s 2026 roadmap.

President Yoweri Museveni, who is also the NRM party chairman, summoned Central Executive Committee (CEC) members for a special meeting today (March 1), following a series of meetings by top party cadres that demanded a special meeting.

This particular CEC meeting has come at a time when various senior members have petitioned Museveni to convene CEC and give an exhaustive direction on the 2026 presidential flag bearer position for NRM.

One of the meetings that implored Museveni to summon CEC was convened last week on February 15 by the party's national vice chairman, Brig. Gen. Moses Kigongo, at Mosa Courts in Kampala.

During the Kigongo meeting, which was also attended by some CEC members, members resolved to stay the implementation of the 2024-2026 roadmap activities, noting that CEC had no input into the craft and design of the NRM roadmap.

Kigongo also wrote to Museveni expressing displeasure about the way commissioners of Parliament representing NRM were designated.

“Members express displeasure and discomfort on designations of commissioners of Parliament, leadership of the sessional and standing committees of Parliament,” he said.

The Kigongo group said party parliamentary commissioners, “were made without input of CEC [and] in contravention of the rules of procedure of the NRM parliamentary caucus.”

Last month bitter NRM lawmakers petitioned Museveni over the way party Parliament Commissioners—Solomon Silwany (Bukhooli Central), Esther Afoyochan (Zombo District Woman MP) and Prossy Akampurira Mbabazi (Rubanda District Woman MP) were re-appointed.

Lawmakers, who accused Silwany, Akampurira and Afoyochan of failure to serve their interests, asked Museveni to intervene into the matter.

The Kigongo meeting also recommended to Museveni to revoke the earlier position of CEC to bring on board special guests of CEC to the party’s top organ.

“Equally, persons who attend CEC by way of extension are hereby stopped from further attendance,” Kigongo said.

The Vice President, Major. Jessica Alupo, the Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among, the Prime Minister, Robinah Nabbanja and the Deputy Speaker, Thomas Tayebwa, are some of the special guests that were co-opted into CEC by virtue of their positions in Government.

The other meeting was held on February 13 last week by self-styled NRM cadres led by senior presidential advisor on political affairs, David Mafabi, at Kati-Kati Restaurant in Kampala. The Kati-Kati meeting also urged CEC to act on the emerging party contradictions, including the 2026 presidential flag bearer question for NRM.

On February 28, Museveni paid a visit to the NRM party secretariat at Nakasero, Kampala, and launched the party register exercise, a move that triggered the NRM internal electoral process for 2026 into motion.

Last year in November, the chairperson of the NRM electoral commission, Dr Tanga Odoi, unveiled the party’s roadmap, noting that printing, dispatch, and update of the NRM voters register will be conducted from November 1, 2023, to February 29, 2024.

Expression of interest and nomination of candidates for party structures at the village/cell level, Odoi said will be conducted from March 1 – 7, from March 8 -10 the aspirants will carry out campaigns, the polling and announcement of the results will be conducted on March 11.

Odoi added that the compilation of voters' register and polling for NRM party structures at the parish/ward level will be conducted on March 18, compilation of voter’s registers and polling for NRM party structures at sub-county/town council/municipal division level will be conducted on March 25, while compilation of voters’ register and polling for NRM party structures at municipal/city division level was slated for March 28.

However, at the launch of the roadmap, Odoi noted that the party’s EC will announce dates at a later stage when elections of the NRM presidential flagbearer, parliamentary, LC V chairperson, municipal Mayor, LC III chairpersons and all Local Government councillors will be conducted.

“The election for the presidential flagbearer, and parliamentary flagbearers among others will have its own roadmap. The roadmap that we are releasing today is from the Village to the district. The MPs are not involved and for those that have started campaigning early and pinning posters as NRM candidates, please stand warned. There are no flagbearers yet because we still have flagbearers in Parliament. What we are doing is to organise the party elections and later organise the primaries,” Odoi said last year.