'Failure to support NRM is very risky' — Museveni tells Buganda NRM cadres
“Not supporting NRM is very risky; the country can be in total chaos, because if you have got people who don’t see that Uganda should be one, suppose they are the ones in charge of the country. What will happen?” Museveni asked.
President Yoweri Museveni addressing NRM cadres from the Buganda region on Wednesday, September 17, during a meeting he hosted at State House, Entebbe. (PPU photos)
By New Vision Journalist
Journalists @New Vision
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President Yoweri Museveni has applauded members of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) in the Buganda region who lost in the recently concluded party primaries for their decision to rally behind those who emerged as flag bearers.
During a meeting with several NRM cadres from the Buganda region, among them those who lost in the recent party election ahead of the national 2026 polls, the President, who doubles as the NRM National Chairman, hailed the move as a demonstration of political maturity and commitment to unity within the party ahead of the 2026 general elections.
The group was led by Vice National Chairperson for the region, Haruna Kyeyune Kasolo, who is also minister for microfinance.
“I want to congratulate you, and I can see the spirit of the National Resistance Army (NRA) is coming back. Go back and support the flag bearers,” the President said, on Wednesday, September 17, during a meeting he hosted at State House, Entebbe.
He described the losers' decision to support the winners as a commendable gesture of placing the party above personal ambition.
A release from the Presidential Press Units states that Museveni told the group that the NRM’s performance in Buganda has historically suffered due to divisions.
“You hear that the NRM MPs in Buganda have been 31 out of 105, but in about 29 constituencies, the NRM had won by majority, but they divided the vote. If you had not divided your votes, the NRM would have had 60 seats instead of 31,” he observed.
Reminder about Uganda’s political history
PPU reports that President Museveni reminded the gathering of the dangers posed when political actors fail to unite around a common vision.
He drew parallels with Uganda’s troubled political past, cautioning against repeating the mistakes of earlier parties.
“Not supporting NRM is very risky; the country can be in total chaos, because if you have got people who don’t see that Uganda should be one, suppose they are the ones in charge of the country. What will happen?” Museveni asked.
He revisited the events following the 1980 elections, a period when divisions between the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) and Democratic Party (DP) set the stage for armed conflict.
“When we came, we tried to persuade them to go back to the message of unity under the Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF). They didn’t agree, and they tried to bring back DP and UPC. If they had agreed, there would have been no war from 1981 to 1986,” President Museveni recalled.
The President also invoked the 1961 elections, when the Kabaka Yekka (KY) movement clashed with the Democratic Party.
“Mengo said that they should boycott the election of 1961; those of the Democratic Party decided to go ahead and register themselves to participate. Those of Kabaka Yekka got annoyed and resolved to cut down on their coffee. That’s what happened in 1961,” he said, drawing a link to more recent violence, such as the killings in Masaka following the 2021 elections, arguing that the same divisive spirit has periodically resurfaced.
According to President Museveni, the first obligation of political actors should be to safeguard stability, without which development cannot be sustained.
He argued that supporting the NRM is not just about political allegiance but also about ensuring peace, growth, and socio-economic transformation.
“Supporting NRM is first of all for stability, but also secondly, for the future, because you can see the factories are now coming. The whole of Matugga is factories, Kawempe factories, in Namanve, they are producing,” President Museveni said, noting that Uganda’s growing industrial base depends on wider markets.
“Where are we selling these products? We are not selling them in Uganda. We are selling them in East Africa, South Sudan, and Congo,” he explained, stressing the importance of NRM’s ideological pillars: patriotism, Pan-Africanism, socio-economic transformation, and democracy.
“It is politics of aims, not politics of jobs, not politics of groups,” President Museveni said, urging cadres to avoid politics of personal gain.
Warning against politics without ideology
The President underscored the dangers of engaging in politics without a clear ideological foundation, terming it “a big danger,” reminding the audience that even the restoration of traditional leaders was undertaken with clarity of purpose.
“We told everybody that we are restoring the cultural institutions, but keep out of politics. No powers of administration, no powers of legislation, because these are with the people. Everything is in writing. There’s nothing we say or do that is not deliberate,” he emphasised, urging the cadres to always be guided by the NRM’s foundational aims.
“If you are really clear about them, these issues you are talking about, like fighting for positions, cannot be a serious point, because you can sit down and discuss and choose who is fit to lead amongst you,” he said.
President Museveni likened politics to medical practice, stressing that it must involve identifying problems and prescribing solutions.
He reflected on the struggle against Idi Amin, noting that it was not merely about his brutality but also about a lack of ideological direction.
“When we started fighting Idi Amin, some people said we started fighting him because he killed people. I didn’t know that Amin would kill people because even if Amin had not killed people, we would have fought him because he didn’t know what he was doing,” he said.
He emphasised NRM’s long-standing goals of patriotism, Pan-Africanism, East African unity, and socio-economic transformation.
“If you go to South Africa now, it is full of Ugandans. I hear there are 1 million Ugandans there. They don’t even know what role Uganda played,” President Museveni noted.
NRM cadres pledged support
On behalf of the NRM Central Executive Committee (CEC) and cadres in Buganda, the party’s thanked President Museveni for what he described as an “ideological lecture.”
“The elections of 2021 didn’t go well in Buganda, but come 2026, we are more than determined to win highly. Buganda is the highest beneficiary of development in this country,” Kasolo said.
He assured the President that Buganda cadres now have the answers to the challenges that previously weakened NRM’s support in the region.
“We pledge that we shall bring back this team after we have won the election,” he said.