Does incorruptible Muntu stand any chance in Uganda's hardball politics?

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In Africa, political strength is often wrongly measured by the size of crowds at rallies or by a candidate’s ability to fight pitched battles with security forces.

If that was the true yardstick, then the winner of Uganda’s 2026 presidential race would already be known by yesterday.

But if substance and messaging are anything to go by, some political analysts argue that Alliance for National Transformation’s (ANT) Maj. Gen. (Rtd) Gregory Mugisha Muntu has raised the bar so high. So much so that during his inaugural rally at Kawempe Ku Tano playground on October 31, 2025, Muntu, who served as Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) from 1989 to 1998, was even described by some as a leader fit for the American political turf.

However, many of his critics have previously argued that his overly diplomatic posture is misplaced in Uganda’s rough and tumble politics.

As Gen. Muntu concludes the first week of campaigns that took him from Kawempe and Kisenyi in central Kampala to the hilly districts of Mitooma and Rubirizi, New Vision examines issues that stood out and how they were tailored.

Incorruptible track record

While credentials may not, in themselves, be worth flaunting, in the murky waters of Ugandan politics, where corruption and dishonesty are rife, Mugisha Muntu has consistently made it a point to remind voters of what he brings to the table.

Considering that Uganda recently discovered rare earth minerals in the east, valued at sh2.2 trillion according to the Energy Ministry, Muntu warned that failure to manage them properly risks letting them fall into the wrong hands, leaving Ugandans empty-handed.

At all his rallies, he emphasised his incorruptible and value-driven nature. A reputation that stretches back to the days before the National Resistance Army (NRA) shot its way to power in 1986. Suffice to note, Muntu joined the NRA aged 23 years after graduating from Makerere University. Despite his father Enoch Muntuyera having been a close confidante to Milton Apollo Obote, who at the time was the President.

Soldiers storing money in sacks

After capturing power, Muntu first headed the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) before he was elevated to command the fifth division in Lira district. It is there that he incubated plans to choke off theft of public funds after a bizarre incident.

“I usually tell people that when I was the commander of the Fifth Division in Lira, one day, I was there seated after leaving office, I had barely spent two weeks in the position when I saw soldiers carrying a sack of money into a house. I asked them what was happening, and they told me this was the norm. I asked why they wanted to keep it in the house where I was residing,” Muntu told Rutookye residents on Thursday this week.

“I asked, ‘Why keep public money here when there is an office?’ They said, ‘That’s how it has always been done.’ I objected immediately. We moved the money into the office and stationed an officer there, ensuring that every coin that came in or went out was properly accounted for,” he added.

Dr Besigye detention

Dr Kizza Besigye. (File/New Vision)

While he may not have emphasised it fervently in central Uganda, upon crossing into the western frontier, where ethnicity often transcends party loyalty, Muntu has shifted tone, condemning the continued remand of veteran politician Col (Rtd) Dr Kiiza Besigye.

Besigye and his aide, Hajj Obeid Lutale, were arrested in Nairobi in November last year and repatriated to Uganda to face trial on subversive charges.

Yet, nearly a year later, the duo remains on remand as investigations continue. At various campaign stops, Muntu has maintained that while it is within the government’s right to prosecute anyone who breaks the law, enforcers of the law must comply with Article 23 (6) (c) of the constitution.

“There is a provision which says that once you spend 180 days in prison without trial, you should be set free. He (Besigye) remains holed up there," he pointed out.

Adding that Besigye is not a flight risk and would not evade the long arm of the law if granted bail.

Also, he condemned incommunicado detention of political activists, a vice he says is on the rise. 

“It is not only Dr Kizza Besigye; recently, they picked Bobi Wine’s chief escort, Eddie Mutwe. Recently, they arrested Sam Mugumya, who to this day has not been produced in court; he is still missing, nobody knows where he is incarcerated,” he noted.

Muntu speaking on of his campaign trails. (File/New Vision)

Falling tea prices

Other issues that have featured prominently in his campaign include the poor pay of teachers and the government’s failure to establish a regulatory agency for tea farming. Something he partly blames for declining prices.

“Uganda gets $1 per kilo at the Mombasa auction market, Rwanda $3, Kenya $2.50, and Tanzania $2–3,” he pointed out.

It should be noted that on November 16, 2023, Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja told Parliament that they were preparing a number of measures to alleviate this malaise.

“Medium term, we want to see how the Government can come in, either with a subsidy so that these farmers can apply fertilisers, for the quality of our tea to go up. Also, the type of tea our people grow here, I am told, is that ancient type; we need to change. Then lastly, those who are having issues with the bank, I don’t know how we can come in,” Nabbanja further elaborated.

Her remarks followed concern by Ephraim Biraaro (Buhweju West, NRM), who warned that locals in his home district of Buhweju were contemplating switching to a much more lucrative crop.

“About 50 districts in Uganda are engaged in tea growing, processing and selling. The tea industry has more than 680,000 bona fide farmers and employs more than two million people who are Ugandans. Tea earns Uganda more than $185million (sh699.7 billion) a year. The current trends in the tea industry are very worrying,” Biraaro told the House then.

Museveni retirement

All the above combined, Muntu says, signal that President Yoweri Museveni has failed. Adding that Museveni missed a golden opportunity to become a statesman when MPs voted to scrap term limits were lifted in 2005, a move Muntu claims he personally warned him about in vain.

President Yoweri Museveni. (File/New Vision)

Speaking to Mitooma residents, Muntu noted that while the window for a peaceful retirement still exists, the likely way to achieve it is by defeating President Museveni by a “knockout” in the looming polls.

However, this nearly put him at odds with a section of attendees at his rally in Kabira Town, Mitooma District, on Thursday, after an elderly woman, Provia Bashabire, urged him to first allow President Museveni to complete the next term he has requested.

Unique campaigning style

However, in all this, the most interesting takeaway is that wherever his caravan has traversed, Mugisha Muntu’s campaign trail has taken on a markedly different character. Unlike his previous bid in 2021, when he garnered a meagre 67,574 votes, this time round, the retired general has shifted gears by adopting a hybrid campaign style.

In contrast to his opponents, where politicians preach and supporters simply absorb, Muntu has chosen to engage voters through a question-and-answer format, and at times, by going door-to-door in his campaign. A development, insiders in the ANT camp say, appears to be winning him hearts even in the most unlikely places.

A case in point is in Rutookye Town Council, Bitereko sub-county, where on Thursday, October 2, National Resistance Movement (NRM) registrar Justus Orishaba publicly threw his weight behind the general.

“I love ANT and Mugisha Muntu,” he declared.

“But I want to ask the people of Rutookye, Bitereko, and the whole of western Uganda: I am not promoting tribalism, but search your heart, who should be our next President? If you don’t support him (Muntu) today, and tomorrow he says, ‘I only got one vote, so I will not return,’ where shall we find him again?” Orishaba posed.

Orishaba continued, “Besigye’s fate is already known, where he is and getting out of there is difficult. But this one (Muntu) is already out. Why don’t we energise him, so that maybe tomorrow he comes back to this area? The chairman, who belongs to FDC, has told you the vice-chair is from NRM. So, what crime will I have committed if, as an NRM person, I support ANT?”

Furthermore, he pressed, “For you, an NRM supporter of Rwoburunga, if you support a PFF member as a councillor, what do you lose if you see something special in him? Personally, I am happy to see you here. In fact, I know what I will do. I saw you had written down numbers for fundraising. I will support with sh20,000,” he summed.

However, this modus operandi has also nearly put him on a collision course. For instance, during a rally at Kabira town in Mittoma, he was openly confronted by an elderly woman, Provia Bashabire, who asked him to let President Yoweri Museveni complete the next term, while he managed to diffuse the situation, the situation could have gotten ugly had it not been for his wit.

Analysts comment

While many critics have previously argued that Muntu’s overly diplomatic posture stands little chance in the country’s rough and tumble politics, Martha Leah Nangalama, a Canada-based Ugandan socio-political commentator, says if it is about eradicating corruption, which siphons sh10 trillion annually, Muntu is the best bet.

Nangalama said, “In the early 90s, Muntu took the initiative to stamp corruption out by instituting a team headed by Serwanga Lwanga, Ivan Koreta and Fred Bogere. The team started from the eastern region to physically identify, photograph and document every member of the NRA and auxiliary forces. From the eastern region, the team proceeded to the northern region……."

Adding that, unlike people of his calibre who often take pride in appearing grandiose, Muntu has remained modest.

“As a DMI, Muntu is renowned for living a very simple life while his colleagues rushed for the spoils of war that went with victory. His Aides would face difficulty in explaining the source of expensive house items that they would get for him from the army headquarters. His official car was an old blue Land Rover that he would use to carry any junior staff member whom he would find on the way to and from work. This vehicle remained a property of DMI/CMI until recently,” she alluded.

What others say

Ahmed Salim (Bwaise II resident); Mugisha Muntu is a leader with integrity.

Nelson Agaba (Youth coordinator ANT); Gen. Muntu’s record is well known.

Moses Ntegge Ndugga (Kawempe ANT leader); Kawempe residents are grappling with high levels of poverty. We have just finished submitting signatures to back our president, but what we discovered is that many people no longer possess National IDs. Many of them are with moneylenders. Many cars and taxis that park here no longer have car log books; they are with moneylenders.

Gerald Mucurezi Humble (Former Ruhaama county contestant); General Muntu is the solution to Uganda’s problems. Because the majority of Ugandans are grappling with so many things, including the costs of living here in Kampala, which are high.