2026 Elections: NRM, PLU leaders intensify vote hunt for Museveni in Ankole
Rugambwa urged NRM and PLU leaders to work hard and intensify their efforts to canvass votes for President Museveni to ensure a landslide victory for him and all NRM candidates.
The senior presidential adavisor on agriculture and rural development Peace Rugambwa (right) and the chairperson of PLU coordinator western region Gerald Agaba addressing participants during a meeting at Dream Wood Suites in Mbarara City on Friday November 7, 2025. (Photos by Francis Emorut)
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National Resistance Movement (NRM) and Patriotic League for Uganda (PLU) leaders in the western region have intensified efforts to mobilise votes for presidential candidate President Yoweri Museveni ahead of the 2026 general elections.
The senior presidential advisor on agriculture and rural development, Peace Rugambwa, is spearheading the President’s campaign in the western region ahead of his campaign trail there.
Rugambwa urged NRM and PLU leaders to work hard and intensify their efforts to canvass votes for President Museveni to ensure a landslide victory for him and all NRM candidates.
The leaders in the Ankole region are campaigning under the umbrella “Team Tuko Pamoja Ankole and Kigezi Sub-region”.
The senior presidential adavisor on agriculture and rural development Peace Rugambwa (fifth left) pose for a group photo with PLU and NRM leaders after a meeting at Dream Wood Suites in Mbarara City on Friday November 7, 2025. 
“This election is meant to be peaceful and no teargas, and therefore, let’s work hard as a team and aim for a landslide victory,” Rugambwa said.
The presidential advisor made the remarks during a meeting with NRM parliamentary and district contestants and PLU district coordinators at Dream Wood Suites in Mbarara city, Mbarara district, on November 7, 2025.
She implored the leaders to avoid infighting, saying it weakens the NRM party and benefits opposition candidates.
Rugambwa appealed to the NRM and PLU leaders to be organised in their campaign strategy and ensure there are no camps supporting independents who were defeated in the NRM party primaries.
She asked them to work hand in hand with PLU chairman Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba and Gen. (Rtd) Salim Saleh in canvassing votes for President Museveni.
The senior presidential advisor assured the leaders that they would be able to hold a meeting with President Museveni once they are organised ahead of his campaign in the Ankole sub-region.
She called on the Mbarara district internal security organisation operatives and resident district commissioners to work together as a team to contain National Unity Platform (NUP) youth supporters, especially from the ghettos, and sensitise them on the NRM manifesto.
“There are those (voters) who are not interested in voting, let’s mobilise them and sensitise them on the achievements the NRM has made and the NRM manifesto. President Yoweri Museveni has done a lot for this country. He is interested in ensuring that the common man is helped,” she stated.
The leaders complained about the shortage of campaign materials such as T-shirts and posters, saying it was a setback in mobilising votes for President Museveni and NRM candidates.
“Campaign materials are being worked on; that should not worry you,” Rugambwa responded.
PLU, NRM leaders speak out
Gerald Agaba, the chairperson of PLU coordinators for the western region, said his team was committed to mobilising votes for the President and emphasised the need to develop campaign messages focused on protecting the gains.
“Protecting the gains. What are the gains?” Agaba asked.
He said a clear and simple communication strategy was key to appealing to voters to support President Museveni.
“We need to develop a template for campaign messages on protecting the gains. We are in a struggle, not until the struggle is complete. This is actual war 24 hours to look for votes,” Agaba said.
President Museveni is campaigning under the slogan “Protecting The Gains-As We Make a Qualitative Leap Into High Middle Income Status.”
A cross section of participants during a meeting at Dream Wood Suites in Mbarara City on Friday November 7, 2025. 
Yunusu Kyabalongo, the PLU coordinator for the Ankole sub-region, said they were facing a problem with NRM-leaning independents and warned that if the issue was not handled properly, it could cost the NRM votes in the region.
Moreen Namanya, the Kabale PLU chairperson, said the issue of independents was likely to compromise votes, stressing that every vote counts. She proposed a meeting between PLU coordinators and Team Peace Rugambwa to resolve the issue of independents.
Denis Muhumuza, the Ntungamo NRM district coordinator, said sometimes NRM and PLU leaders seemed to be competing for attention, wondering whose interests they were serving instead of uniting to canvass votes for President Museveni.
Robert Mbabazi, the Rukiga district PLU coordinator, called on NRM leaders to approach the 2026 general election as “war”, which requires a united front to defeat the opposition.
Rugambwa appealed to the leaders to organise people working in different sectors to form SACCOs so that the Government can channel resources to support their ventures.