Deep-seated divisions within the National Resistance Movement (NRM) leadership in Busoga were laid bare on Saturday during a mobilisation meeting at Iganga Girls’ Secondary School, where thousands of party leaders from across the sub-region gathered ahead of the 2026 general elections.
The meeting was presided over by NRM Chairperson and presidential flag bearer, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, who used the occasion to openly criticise infighting among party leaders and supporters in Busoga.
Without mincing words, the President warned that persistent divisions were undermining service delivery and slowing the region’s socio-economic transformation. He urged party leaders to embrace humility, unity and discipline, saying leadership without these values breeds conflict and ultimately harms ordinary Ugandans, especially the poor.
“So please, I ask you to be humble as leaders. If I were not humble, I would not have managed Uganda,” Museveni told the gathering, drawing applause from party cadres and local leaders.
He stressed that unity among political leaders is not a luxury but a prerequisite for development, noting that internal cohesion enables leaders to focus on shared goals rather than personal or factional interests.
President Museveni contrasted Busoga’s internal wrangles with other regions where similar NRM mobilisation meetings have been held and found greater unity among leaders. He cited Bukedi, Lango, Bugisu, West Nile and Acholi, saying leaders there had demonstrated a shared commitment to regional development despite political differences.
The President revealed that the Busoga meeting itself had been convened in Iganga at the request of the State Minister for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Hon. Persis Namuganza, but was later affected by the very divisions it sought to resolve.
“You must cure this problem because it is Namuganza who asked me to bring this meeting here,” Museveni said.
“When I rang her, she told me we must do it here. I agreed because we don’t have time to hold such meetings everywhere,” he added, expressing disappointment that some prominent NRM leaders from Busoga failed to attend.
He narrated how he personally intervened to resolve confusion surrounding invitations, particularly involving the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for East African Community Affairs, Rt. Hon. Rebecca Kadaga.
“I spoke to my young sister Kadaga to ask where she was, and she told me she was not invited,” Museveni said.
“I then rang the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament to ask why Kadaga was not invited. She told me all flag bearers were invited.”
The President said he later called Kadaga again to clarify the matter, but she questioned how the invitation had been communicated.
“She asked, ‘How was I invited? Through the radio or what?’ When I reached here, I asked how you invited Kadaga,” he added.
NRM Chairperson for Iganga District, Hajji Abubakar Walubi, later explained that invitations had been issued through Resident District Commissioners (RDCs), District Internal Security Officers (DISOs), and party structures down to parish and village levels.
Walubi said he had also confirmed with Kamuli District NRM Chairperson Mathew Bazanya that all district chairpersons were informed and that many had attended.
The meeting formed part of a broader NRM strategy to re-energise grassroots structures ahead of the 2026 general elections, as the ruling party moves to consolidate support and seek a renewed mandate for another five-year term.
