Museveni dismisses rival candidates as jokers
“So, we are not a party of jokers or of people who are looking for jobs, or anything. We are here to save our future as Africa. So, you people should be very proud to belong to this powerful movement which has caused so much changes,” he said.
President Yoweri Museveni arriving in Kyabazinga stadium in Bugembe, Jinja City to campaign at his last rally. (Donald Kirya)
________________
President Yoweri Museveni has dismissed his rival candidates as jokers and urged his supporters to be very proud to be members of the “powerful National Resistance Movement (NRM) party”.
This was during his final 2026 re-election campaign rally in the Busoga sub-region at Kyabazinga Stadium in Bugembe, Jinja City, on Friday.
Giving tips to his supporters on how to respond to rival camps, the NRM chairman and Presidential candidate, said, “when they go back to their villages after the rally and they ask you to give reasons why you support NRM, tell them that there are seven bricks NRM has put on the house of Uganda.”
The seven bricks, he said, include peace, development, wealth, jobs, service delivery, markets, and East African federation.
He explained that the East African federation will enable the regional bloc to have a strong country bigger than any of the member states with a strong army which can guard the future of the African race.
“So, we are not a party of jokers or of people who are looking for jobs, or anything. We are here to save our future as Africa. So, you people should be very proud to belong to this powerful movement which has caused so much changes,” he said.
To guide his supporters on opportunities, Museveni asked his press team at the venue of the rally to play footage of the industrial parks and the hydropower projects that are in Uganda. The videos were shown on the huge screens erected at the grounds.
These include Mbale Industrial Park, Namanve Industrial Park in Mukono district, Kapeeka Industrial Park in Nakaseke district, and the Karuma and Isimba hydro-power projects.
"Every park and project that was shown to the crowd, Museveni kept imagining what his political opponents would say: “Ah, that is nothing now.”
“So, all that ( videos ) are recorded here within your country. But someone is dreaming that nothing has been done. It is your job to tell that person that you are mad or sick, or you are the enemy of Uganda; you don’t want progress,” Museveni stated.
“Our development annoys them,” he asked, asking his supporters to vote for the ‘old man with a hat’ and all NRM candidates, come 2026.
Museveni is being challenged by seven candidates: Robert Kyagulanyi of the National Unity Platform, Joseph Kasibante of the National Peasants Party, Robert Mabirizi of the Conservative Party, and Mugisha Muntu of the Alliance for National Transformation.
Others include Nandala Mafabi of the Forum for Democratic Change, Mubarak Munyagwa of the Common Man’s Party, and Frank Kabinga of the Revolutionary People’s Party.