In Rwampara, ANT's Muntu delivers foreboding message to NRM

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The Alliance for National Transformation (ANT) presidential flagbearer, Maj. Gen. (Rtd) Gregory Mugisha Muntu has called on members of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) to reform the party from within.

The former army commander warned that if they fail to do so, they risk being consumed by especially corruption.

He made the call on his campaign trail in Nyeihanga Town Council, Rwampara district, on Saturday (October 4).

Muntu was referring, in part, to what happened during the NRM Central Executive Committee (CEC) elections at Kololo in Kampala in August.

According to him, the disgruntlement voiced by some of the party’s old guards, including First Deputy Prime Minister and Kamuli Woman MP Rebecca Kadaga, exhibited betrayal and cracks within the party.

At the time, NRM national chairman Yoweri Museveni urged the party's leaders not to "alienate our members through injustice and corruption".

In Rwampara, Muntu's foreboding message to the NRM was clear.

“The day General Museveni leaves power, the NRM will cease to exist completely. It will be like Kenya’s KANU or our friends in UPC, parties that ruled from independence. Because KANU ruled for 40 years, and it barely exists today. It only has six members in Parliament. That is what will happen to the NRM.

Adding: "I am asking ladies and gentlemen who remain in the NRM. I am not telling you to leave, but fight from within if you believe something can be cured. If you think it cannot be cured, support us and let us work together to liberate this country."

Muntu has maintained that he is the clean guy, urging Ugandans to vote him into power.

“I was offered a ministerial position, but I declined it,” he claimed.

The ANT frontrunner, who finished fourth in the 2021 presidential election, argued that President Yoweri Museveni cannot accomplish what he has failed to do in 40 years.

He said that if Ugandans instead elect him (Muntu) president, he will create more jobs, among other pledges. His campaign message is anchored on restoring hope, dignity and the self-worth of the people. He is keen on seeing a Uganda where there is "sanity, justice and fairness".

Before leaving to campaign in nearby Kinoni Town, Muntu was critical of the inadequate campaign schedule.

“They give us 90 days, yet there are 147 districts. The Electoral Commission should have ensured we have ample time so people can listen to all candidates and make informed decisions," he said.

"We have spent one day in Rwampara, but there are districts where you have to combine two or three in a single day just to reach every place."

Muntu and his party have since launched a public fundraising drive to support their activities until the end of the campaigns.

Besides NRM's Museveni, the ANT presidential candidate is in the race with six other candidates:

▪️ Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (National Unity Platform - NUP)

▪️ Nathan Nandala Mafabi (Forum for Democratic Change - FDC)

▪️ Elton Joseph Mabirizi (Conservative Party - CP)

▪️ Mubarak Munyagwa (Common Man’s Party - CMP)

▪️ Frank Bulira Kabinga (Revolutionary People’s Party - RPP)

▪️ Robert Kasibante (National Peasants Party - NPP)

Muntu kicked off his campaigns in Kampala, specifically in Kawempe and Central divisions, on Tuesday.

He then took his campaign message to the western sub-region of Ankole, where he has since campaigned in Mitooma, Rubirizi and Rwampara districts.