Govt chief Whip Obua wins nothern NRM vice-chairperson seat

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Government Chief Whip in Parliament, Denis Hamson Obua, has won the National Resistance Movement (NRM) internal party elections for vice-chairperson, northern region.

Obua beat two other candidates to the seat with 3,591 votes (67.4%) out of 5,327 of total votes cast. His rivals were Daniel Fred Kidega (658 votes) and Sam Engola (1,078 votes).

Government Chief Whip in Parliament, Denis Hamson Obua, won the NRM northern region vice-chairperson seat, beating Daniel Fred Kidega and Sam Engola. (Photo by Joseph Mutebi)

The seat fell vacant following the death of former Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oulanyah in 2022, but had never been filled.

The seat is part of the hotly contested slots of the ruling party's central executive committee (CEC), which is the top decision-making body of the party.

Ruling NRM party's CEC is not merely a party structure; it is the de facto nucleus of political decision-making in Uganda, and advises party chairperson President Yoweri Museveni and often serves as the final arbiter on matters ranging from parliamentary candidature to Cabinet appointments.

So, to be on CEC is to have a direct hand in shaping Uganda’s political architecture, according to political analyst Crispin Kaheru, a member of the Uganda Human Rights Commission.

NRM secretariat director of information and publicity Emmanuel Dombo says CEC is the apex organ of the NRM that has delegated authority to run the affairs of the party.

“CEC approves all major appointments by the party, designates all positions in the committees of parliament and the parliamentary commission, and it is in a vintage position in case one was to lobby for anything or for anyone,” he says.

Government Chief Whip in Parliament, Denis Hamson Obua, jubilates with the other candidates that won the regional NRM vice-chairperson seats. (Photo by Joseph Mutebi)

He notes that the level of competition demonstrated this time may be because it has been over 10 years since the party had an election for some of the league positions on the CEC.

“The new entrants feel the other leaders have stayed for enough time and should give way for others, and yet the old ones feel they now have the requisite experience to stay put,” Dombo, who was Bunyole East MP for 20 years, states.

He, however, argues that the stiff competition demonstrates the increasing importance of the political parties in determining the direction of the affairs of the state.

Close to 300 party members were nominated to vie for various positions of CEC for the period 2025-2031.