Former NUP aspirants seek audience with Museveni

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Leaders who previously belonged to the National Unity Platform (NUP) have expressed their desire to meet President Yoweri Museveni over what they describe as “unfinished business” with the National Resistance Movement (NRM).

The group of 13 former NUP political aspirants from the Lango sub-region claim that NRM persuaded them to withdraw their candidature for various leadership positions, leaving the ruling party’s candidates to win the races unopposed.

Some of the former NUP parliamentary candidates include Geoffrey Ebyeru of Dokolo North, Emmanuel Omang of Kole South, David Odongo of Oyam North, Denis Onyum of Kioga County, Maxwell Otum of Otuke and Juliet Atim of Lira district.

Eight of the aspirants withdrew from parliamentary races, while five stepped down from contests for local government leadership positions.

During a media briefing at Grand Imperial Hotel on Monday (March 16), Moses Ongwec, a veteran political mobiliser in the Lango sub-region, explained why the team he led decided to support the ruling party in the January 2026 polls.

“The NRM has provided peace and security in the North of Uganda. We don’t want to go back to those days. Also, we saw that the opposition had no levelled ground to rule us,” he said.

He said that several pledges had been made to them by the NRM.

“We were supposed to get a refund of the money we spent on the campaigns. We were also promised jobs as well as security since we are not safe,” Ongwec said.

Noting that there is mounting pressure on him to compensate the team he led, Ongwec added that the debt burden he has incurred while catering for the disgruntled former aspirants has left him financially constrained.

The group hopes to meet the President, who is also the NRM national chairman, to resolve the matter and continue working for the good of the ruling party if the promises made to them are fulfilled.

NUP defections to NRM

In the lead-up to the 2026 elections, several members of the National Unity Platform defected to the ruling NRM.

These individuals range from former parliamentary candidates to grassroots youth mobilisers, who often cited a lack of clear ideology or a desire for improved service delivery as their reasons for crossing to the ruling party.

Some notable defections include Anthony Ojangole, a former NUP parliamentary aspirant in Agule County, as well as Geoffrey Kateu, who also contested in Pallisa.

NRM strength in the north

In northern Uganda, the NRM registered a strong performance during the 2026 general elections, gaining ground in areas that had historically been opposition strongholds.

The party’s performance in the region was characterised by high voter turnout and victories in several parliamentary and local council races.

According to key performance highlights, the party secured between 63 and 69 per cent of the vote across Northern Uganda.