Mao gears up for NRM’s seven-day retreat in Kyankwanzi

__________________

Justice minister Norbert Mao is preparing to participate in the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party’s seven-day parliamentary retreat, which kicks off today, Tuesday (April 7), at the National Leadership Institute in Kyankwanzi district.

“I confirm that I’ll be participating in the Leaders’ Retreat for the NRM Parliamentary Caucuses from 7th – 15th April, 2026 at the National Leadership Institute (NALI), Kyankwanzi district. I thank our sister party @NRMOnline for the kind invitation,” he wrote on X on Monday.

Mao, who is also the president of the opposition Democratic Party (DP), hashtagged his post #TUKOPAMOJA, a Swahili phrase meaning “we are one”.

He recently said he believes that, if the country is to move forward, there is need for an honest conversation and “of course I expect that we shall have that conversation with the President of Uganda, who is the national chairman of NRM”.

Emmanuel Dombo, the director of information and publicity at the NRM secretariat, told New Vision Online on March 26, 2026, that Mao was among those invited to the retreat.

“And may even either make a presentation related to his ministry or the side he represents in the politics of Uganda. Honourable Mao signed a cooperation agreement with the NRM national chairman, and that agreement does not stop him from attending the organs of the party like the parliamentary caucus, which should be done on invitation,” he emphasised.

Dombo said Mao’s specific role would only be confirmed after approval of the final programme.

The retreat is also expected to discuss who will contest against candidates from other political parties in the race for Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the 12th Parliament.

This follows the decision by the NRM’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) to endorse the incumbent Speaker Anita Among and her deputy Thomas Tayebwa for another term.

It emerged early last month that President Yoweri Museveni had signed a CEC resolution endorsing the duo to retain their positions on February 20, 2026.

In line with precedent, Among and Tayebwa’s names will now be forwarded to the NRM Parliamentary Caucus for adoption as party candidates on the floor of Parliament after the swearing-in ceremony of new legislators between May 13 and May 15, 2026.

The race has so far attracted five other legislators, including Persis Namuganza, the state minister for housing, Lydia Wanyoto, the Mbale City Woman MP-elect, Alioni Yorke Odria of Aringa South and Florence Asiimwe Akiiki, the Masindi Woman MP.

All were elected on the NRM ticket, except Namuganza, who stood as an independent candidate after disputing the ruling party primaries.

However, the main contest for the position remains between Among and Mao, who has already made a significant impact on the race.

Mao, 59, made a political move on July 20, 2022, that surprised many when he signed a working cooperation agreement with the NRM on behalf of DP as a way of gaining greater leverage.

This formal agreement, the first of its kind in Uganda, saw Mao, a former critic of Museveni, appointed minister the following day.

It also enabled the NRM to use its numerical strength to have DP secretary general Gerald Siranda elected as one of Uganda’s nine representatives to the Arusha-based East African Legislative Assembly.

“In AMISOM (African Union Mission in Somalia), all the parties wear the uniforms of their respective countries, but they have a common goal. I am wearing the DP uniform in the NRM army for the goal of uniting Uganda,” Mao said recently while featuring on one of the evening TV talk shows in Kampala.