Adjumani NRM candidates accuse minister Balaam of sabotaging joint campaigns

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Adjumani

Adjumani district National Resistance Movement (NRM) party candidates have accused the state minister for gender, labour and social development in charge of children and youth affairs, Dr Balaam Barugahara Ateenyi, of promoting divisionism and disrupting the joint campaigns at Baridi Stadium.

Minister Balaam is set to visit the district on July 10, 2025, for a public rally for a specific candidate, Gen. Moses Ali, which other candidates say is dividing the party members and creating uneven ground in the NRM family.

The disgruntled candidates collectively expressed their concerns in a petition to the NRM chairperson, Electoral Commission, in a letter dated July 8, 2025.

During a press statement held on Tuesday at the office of the Resident District Commissioner, one of the aspiring candidates for Adjumani LC5, Richard Akuku, says the visit of minister Balaam is not convenient during the NRM party elections. The politicians reported that preparations have disrupted the joint campaigns for the candidates on Tuesday, where the security blocked the candidates from accessing the venue on July 8, 2025, with reasons that the venue had been booked for the visit of minister Balaam.

Jessica Ababiku, the incumbent Woman MP Adjumani district, who called for the promotion of unity in the party, asked the NRM party to reschedule the joint campaigns, which were stopped by the security with the excuse of securing and protecting the ground for minister Balaam’s visit.

Ababiku also warned that by favouring one person (Moses Ali), Barugahara was causing insecurity among the other opponents, which she said will escalate more hatred and conflict in the NRM party.

Ben Anyama, the LC5 chairperson of Adjumani district, noted that minister Balaam, coming to campaign for Gen. Moses Ali, who is unable to participate in the joint campaigns, is diverting the minds of the electorate and indirectly rigging elections for the candidate he is rallying support for.

Santos Adrawa, aspiring candidate for Adjumani West MP, expressed his disappointment upon the cancellation of the joint campaigns.

Nicxon Owole, a candidate for Adjumani West MP, says Balaam should campaign in his individual capacity, not on behalf of the government, because all the candidates are equal in the elections.

Responding to the claims, minister Balaam told New Vision in a telephone interview on Wednesday, he is simply coming to attend Gen. Moses Ali’s rally, in which he has invited all NRM candidates. The minister says the candidates can go ahead to do the rally at the Mayor's garden if security has turned them away from Biridi stadium.

The minister added, " Gen. Ali is having a nomination rally and I am coming for it. The joint campaign is in Adjumani East, yet Gen. Moses Ali is in Adjumani West.

If your father, who is also an elder, invites you. You must oblige and listen to him.

Yesterday I spoke to the LC5 and MP Jessica Ababiku, and we had a conference call including minister for Presidency Milly Babalanda and the matter was harmonised.

The activity scheduled is for local leaders, all NRM candidates and Gen. Moses Ali's nomination rally."