NRM rallies Kikuube supporters behind Kisembo amid nomination dispute

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Dr Rosemary Nansubuga Sseninde, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) director of mobilisation, has urged party supporters in Kikuube district to ignore what she described as rumours that the nomination of the party's flag bearer could be annulled.

Kikuube district is preparing to hold an LC5 byelection on June 18, 2026, following the death of the incumbent district chairperson, Peter Banura, in a car crash on April 4, 2026.

Dr Sseninde made the remarks on June 7, 2026, while meeting NRM leaders from Kabwoya and Kyangwali sub-counties as part of efforts to mobilise support for the party flag bearer, Paddy Kisembo.

The by-election has left some NRM supporters and leaders divided following the disqualification of Philip Mbabazi Burnet, the son of Gen Matayo Kyaligonza, during the nomination process by the Electoral Commission (EC).

Mbabazi, who won the NRM primary election with 23,279 votes, failed to secure nomination after allegedly failing to present the required academic documents to the EC. The development forced the NRM Secretariat to replace him with Paddy Kisembo, who finished second with 16,459 votes and had turned up to be nominated as an independent candidate.

Following his disqualification, Burnet filed a petition with the Electoral Commission seeking the cancellation of the nominations of Kisembo and Tinkamanyire Fenekansi of the National Unity Platform (NUP), alleging that their nominations were illegal because they failed to meet the requirements stipulated by law.

The Electoral Commission announced that it would make a ruling on the matter on June 10, 2026.

However, while addressing NRM leaders in Kyangwali subcounty at the community hall, Dr Sseninde said they were concerned that some individuals were spreading rumours that the EC would overturn Kisembo's nomination and instead nominate Burnet.

She described the information as misleading and urged NRM supporters not to listen to what she termed self-seeking individuals. She said such speculation could affect support for the party's flag bearer if voters accepted it as fact and urged them to ignore it.

“People are trying to deceive, the wananchi that on Wednesday the EC is going to overturn the campaigns and nominate Philip Burnet which we truly think it’s not going to happen like that because before we came here, we had do, a due diligence, whether we hold the campaigns and wait for the decision of EC but the good thing we were guided that the EC is not going to extend the period of campaign and it is not going to change the date of voting” she explained.

Sseninde explains scientific campaign strategy

Dr Sseninde said the party had agreed to conduct a scientific campaign because of the Ebola outbreak.

She explained that they began by meeting the NRM district executive committee on Saturday before holding a meeting with subcounty NRM leaders on Sunday.

According to her, the sub-county leaders will engage parish NRM leaders, who will then meet village leaders. The village leaders will subsequently conduct house-to-house mobilisation.

“Kikuube has 335 villages, if we have 63 members of NRM in each village and each member brings three voters, we shall have won the election”, she said.

Sseninde said she was encouraged by the positive response from residents despite the controversy surrounding the nomination process. She added that this demonstrated the loyalty of NRM supporters in Kikuube and expressed confidence that the party's flag bearer would win the election.

The commissioner of the NRM electoral commission, Jane Alisemeera Babiiha, who has been accompanying Dr Sseninde in canvassing support for Kisembo, urged residents not to blame the NRM for what transpired during the nomination process and instead faulted Burnet for the ongoing confusion.

She said the NRM electoral commission had cleared Burnet to contest in the primary election after he presented only an O-Level certificate and promised to submit the rest of his academic documents, which he claimed were still in the United States, where he had been living.

Babiiha said the party repeatedly reminded him to submit the documents, but he failed to do so until nomination day. She added that the party had been compelled at the last minute to ask Kisembo to become its flag bearer because it could not allow the NUP candidate to be nominated unopposed.

Speaking to the press after the campaign meeting, Kisembo said his team had also adopted a scientific campaign approach and was holding meetings of no more than 50 people while observing standard operating procedures (SOPs).

He commended the NRM Secretariat for supporting his campaign and called on his supporters to remain calm, saying Burnet's petition had no merit and maintaining that he followed the correct nomination procedures.