JEEMA undecided on presidential candidate to support

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The Justice Forum (JEEMA) political party is facing a divide, with members split between supporting President Yoweri Museveni and Opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi for the 2026 General Election.

This rift has sparked heated debates among party members, with some advocating for backing Museveni, while others insist on supporting National Unity Platform’s (NUP) presidential flag-bearer Kyagulanyi.

JEEMA, a party which started as a pressure group in 1995 before March 23, 2005, when it was registered as a political party and known for its strong stance on justice for all, has traditionally been aligned with Opposition politics.

The Justice Forum (JEEMA) party president, Asuman Basalirwa and secretary general Mohammed Kateregga at NEC meeting at Tal Cottages in Rubaga division in Kampala. (Photo by Isaac Nuwagaba)

With recent developments on the Inter-Party Organisation for Dialogue (IPOD) and Asuman Basalirwa, the party president declining to stand as a presidential candidate, some party members have started reconsidering their stance, with a faction pushing for support for Museveni's re-election bid and others for Kyagulanyi.

Attending the JEEMA national executive committee meeting that was convened at Tal Cottages in Rubaga division in Kampala on Wednesday, October 15, 2025, Basalirwa was shocked to see members undecided which presidential candidate to support.

“I want in a special way to ask that as a party, we give much attention to the issue of the presidential candidate and how we approach it. We must leave here with a position in one way or the other, whether we have a presidential candidate we are supporting with reasons or not with reasons articulated,” he said.

Kyagulanyi has undermined us

Ibrahim Nsamba, the JEEMA party electoral commission chairperson, disagreed with Basalirwa’s stance to support President Museveni or Kyagulanyi, saying that such alliances have been undermining their ground party support since formation.

“Former Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi of the Go Forward disappointed us when he came as a form of political wave in 2016, opposing Dr Kiiza Besigye of FDC, only to take a diversionary path from Opposition politics since 2016. When Kyagulanyi came in 2021, we supported him, but he was talking ill about us [JEEMA] in Bugiri district recently,” Nsamba said.

The Opposition has since been attacking us, calling us moles when we joined IPOD, including FDC and NUP, who have since been undermining our efforts and belittling us in national politics, he added.

Party blunder

Salima Lunkuse Nsibambi, the JEEMA secretary of the women's league, disregarded supporting either President Museveni or Kyagulanyi, saying that the party made a blunder by failing to front a presidential candidate in the race.

“Why didn’t you stand as the presidential candidate for us? We should not be involved in this dilemma by now. We should remain neutral because it is not in our interest now,” Lunkuse, who is coming to contest as the Mukono district woman MP, said.

Mosmoos Kalungi, the JEEMA legal secretary, proposed that party members support Kyagulanyi to show that they have been in Opposition instead of just leaving their candidates without any leaning presidential candidate in the 2026 general elections.

“Kyagulanyi is the leading Opposition leader now, and it would be an opportunity to identify with him to help us galvanise local support in the public,” he suggested.

The Justice Forum (JEEMA) party president, Asuman Basalirwa and other party members in a group picture after the NEC meeting at Tal Cottages in Rubaga division. (Photo by Isaac Nuwagaba)

Musa Wamala, the JEEMA governor for Masaka region, asked members to support President Museveni, arguing that Kyagulanyi was unclear on the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 and that his moral ground has been hanging in the balance.

Let us support Museveni

“Let us support Museveni. Of all the candidates who have contested this time, only Museveni has been a pillar of peace and unity, and this aligns with our values,” Wamala observed.

Party chairperson Muhammad Mayanja Kibirige urged members to support President Museveni as their candidate.

“We may not be at an advantage to de-campaign President Museveni and NRM candidates if we do not identify ourselves with them. Some of you will be elected by NRM members, and you should not assume that only JEEMA members shall take you to Parliament,” he warned.

"For those who are in areas that are predominantly NRM should use President Museveni’s name and majority areas that are under the NUP party should put Kyagulanyi in their campaign messages,” Kibirige advised.

“If we fail to agree on any, let every individual take his or her position on the matter depending on the areas under their dockets." 

Sour relationship

Basalirwa said that he has never been approached by any candidate for support and that they would not take themselves to support an Opposition candidate.

“Our relationship with other Opposition parties has been sour with Gen. Mugisha Muntu [Alliance for National Transformation presidential flag-bearer] claiming that we have been dining with the NRM.”

“Those comments made by Muntu in Bukomansimbi were unfounded and should not be coming from Muntu, who has been a victim of political blackmail and accusations that pushed him out of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party,” he said.