You do not own Busoga, Museveni tells off Kadaga in stormy NRM committee meeting
“But I am the one who fought for Basoga. Not anybody else," said Museveni.
First Deputy Prime Minister Rebecca Kadaga (right) having a light moment with Minister Persis Namuganza during the National Resistance Movement (NRM) national executive council (NEC) meeting. (Photos by Simon Peter Tumwine)
By Charles Etukuri
Journalists @New Vision
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President Yoweri Museveni has publicly scolded First Deputy Prime Minister Rebecca Kadaga during the National Resistance Movement (NRM) National Executive Council (NEC) meeting after she claimed she was being fought and that allowing Speaker Anita Among to stand against her would cause serious problems with the party in her community, the Basoga.
“You are wrong to say that anybody is hunting you. Also, it's not correct for you to try and involve my people in Basoga. To try and give the impression, if not you, the Basoga are not there. This is not correct, and I have heard references to that issue, but I am a man who keeps quiet,” Museveni said on Saturday, August 23, 2025, at State House Entebbe.
“But I am the one who fought for Basoga. Not anybody else. I am the one who avenged William Nadiope (the first Vice President of Uganda) by defeating Idi Amin, by defeating the Uganda People’s Congress who put Nadiope in prison. Who else did anything for Nadiope? Basoga people were killed. Haji Ali Balunywa, (killed during Idi Amin’s regime in 1972) was killed and who revenged for him, it was the National Resistance Army. It was Front for National Salvation (FRONASA),” Museveni stated.
Museveni further said, “Former Minister Shaban Nkutu and so many Basoga people were killed. Who revenged for them, is it some politicians, it was the NRA, FRONASA, the freedom fighters. We are the ones who brought peace to Busoga and the whole of Uganda. That idea is not a correct one.”
Museveni was responding to Kadaga during the ruling party's NEC meeting after she delivered a blistering speech accusing the top party leadership of favouring Speaker of Parliament Anita Among, who is her rival for the seat. This was after efforts by the party's central executive committee (CEC) to have one of the candidates step down for another had failed.
Presenting her case before NRM's NEC, Kadaga said, “I have been a loyal member of this party since its inception. My journey began in 1989 as Chairperson of Resistance Council (RC) 1 in my village in Bugabula, then to RC2, and later to the National Resistance Council. I have never belonged to any other political party. All my life, my commitment has been to the NRM.”
“Our party guidelines are very clear. When one seeks office, they must show what they have done for the Movement in the last ten years. Those rules have not changed. Yet the person now aspiring to this office, Among has served in the NRM for only three years. Whether she was doing other work before, that is her business, but in terms of service to the Movement, she has only three years of experience,” Kadaga stated.
Kadaga said she had served the party for seven years as a backbencher before becoming Minister of Regional Co-operation.
“I exercised patience and respect for the structures of the party. Why then should someone who has barely served three years rush to the top of the Movement? I have supported this party in all ways. As Deputy Speaker, I ensured that budgets were passed. I defended the interests of our people, and I stood with the NRM line. I marketed this country abroad. I am now serving as First Deputy Prime Minister, advancing regional integration,” she added.
Kadaga reminded the President, “Your Excellency, that just a few years ago, I was publicly humiliated, yet I endured that pain quietly and continued to serve the party. I took my people with me, and they remained loyal to the NRM. I have warned that if this matter goes to contest, it will cause serious problems in my community. People will think the party is fighting me, not simply engaging in competition. That is not healthy for the politics of Uganda.”
Speaker Anita Among having a light moment during the NEC meeting at State house.
Kadaga asked the party to reflect, “why should senior members who have built the party be cast aside to make room for newcomers? This office of First Vice Chairperson (Female) was created in 2005 after lobbying by party members, not for personal convenience. It was meant to strengthen representation. Suppose I were a man holding the position of Speaker—would I also come to take the seat of First Vice Chairperson? Would we allow one person to sit in two high offices? It is unfair and unhealthy for the Movement to concentrate such power in one person.”
Kadaga claimed she was the most senior female leader in the NRM party.
“How can the senior be asked to step aside for the junior? What kind of precedent are we setting? This is not just about me. It is about the values of the NRM—commitment, loyalty, patience, and respect for structures. If those values are ignored, then what message are we sending to the membership and to the country? Your Excellency, I therefore appeal to you and to the delegates: Let us uphold the integrity of the party, let us reward commitment, let us protect our structures. I remain committed to the Movement and to serving under your leadership,” she stated.
Museveni's response
Responding to her, Museveni admitted that indeed Kadaga had served the party for a long time but didn’t give her the entitlement.
“On some of the road junctions, Kadaga has been with the NRM. It is true that when we went for multiparty, she stood with us and its true that from 1989 when she came to the National Resistance Council, she has been with the NRM. But then polluting her position with these wrong positions is not correct. To have an idea that I have the power to veto and say you don’t come, I don’t have that power. It has caused a lot of problems if I tried to veto. You saw me the other day in CEC. I was begging my own young brother Shadrack Nzeire. Nzeire had also become a big thing.”
Nzeire wanted the position of NRM vice-chairperson in charge of western Uganda, but was forced to step down during the Thursday CEC meeting.
On allegations that she was being haunted, Museveni said, “Rt. Hon. Kadaga needs to correct the idea that anybody is hunting her. Because there is nobody that is hunting you. This is not correct. What happened was that when we supported the late Speaker Gilbert Oulanyah, it was because Oulanyah had been a deputy Speaker for a long time and I think there had been a tradition for term limits. That is why we said we should support Oulanyah,” Museveni said.
Museveni then asked someone to explain why CEC supported Oulanyah to which NRM Electoral Commission boss Tanga Odoi explained, “CEC members then said there had been a precedent set by NRM. When you are a deputy speaker, you must have two terms. When you are a speaker, you must also have two terms, and then you hand over. Now the case of Rt. Hon. Oulanyah was that he had been a deputy speaker, and when he presented himself to become a speaker, the then current Speaker, Kadaga, defied and said she cannot give in to Oulanyah, and yet she had served two terms as Speaker. CEC resolved that since Oulanyah had been in abeyance, we should allow him to become speaker, and Kadaga rejected, walked out of CEC and declared herself as an independent candidate,” Odoi said.
Museveni said before that we had had Edward Ssekandi, who had served two terms, and Kadaga was his deputy, and that is how she was supported to be speaker.
“You are wrong to say anybody was hunting you.”
Among’s defence
Presenting her case, Among said she had expressed interest and was nominated for the position of second National Vice Chairperson (female).
“I stand here to still affirm, I am still in the race for the second national vice-chairperson. I also want to say this. I am not a CEC member. I am a visitor to the CEC and a visitor to the President. I also want to bring this to you. The motion of saying Among is new, yes, I am new, but I come with new ideas and new vibrancy,” she said.
“The mobilisation that I am doing for this party, I can have over 10 members of Parliament here that I have brought from the opposition to NRM, and here they are. When we talk, this is for the people who have been in the party for long, we must move with generations. I am a generation leader. I am here to mobilise for the party and I am a very disciplined cadre of the party and I can tell you that when the late Oulanyah stood and CEC members approved Oulanyah for the position of the speaker, the people who were saying they are old, senior and respect the party, walked out of the party and stood as independents. Is that love for the party,” Among wondered.
“I have been trusted and given the most top position of the Speaker of Parliament, which is an arm of Government. A Speaker of Parliament who respects the party, values the party NRM. As a Speaker of Parliament, I love my President. I love my party, I can never bring a motion of displeasure for my President. I want to request the Chairman of the party that this matter must be resolved here today. Being new is not a crime. We have people like Rt. Hon. Ruhakana Rugunda, who are old in the party, but they have been appointees of the President and I can assure you, you have an asset in Among. I can assure you with Among, I am going to move around this whole country, mobilising for NRM.”
She said the position is for mobilisation for the party and not for ringfencing.
“I am offering myself and I want to ask the beloved delegates, you have tried me as a Speaker, trust me as a CEC member,” Among said to a thunderous reception.
The NRM Delegates conference is scheduled for August 27-28, 2025, at Kololo Independence Grounds in Kampala, focusing on key party strategies ahead of the 2026 General Elections.
Key officials of CEC will be elected on Wednesday, August 27, 2025, through lining up.