BIG QUESTION: Is Uganda’s National Resistance Movement a mafia organisation?

By Oweyegha-Afunaduula

When some members of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) registered it as National Resistance Movement Organisation (NRMO) prior to the 2006 Presidential and Parliamentary elections, which cast it as a legal political party among the legal political parties, the owners of the Movement ignored NRMO and preferred to proceed as NRM from then on.

Even the Uganda Electoral Commission more or less moved along, because in every election it has organised since then, it has registered NRM, not NRMO, candidates for the elections, knowing fully well that the legal party is NRMO, not NRM.

NRM was an illegal rebel group as NRM/A that waged a five-year bush war in Uganda against the regimes of Apollo Milton Obote and Tito Okello. When it captured power on 25th January, 1986, it remained a bush war organisation with that name until 2006 when it registered as a political party -NRMO, to participate in parliamentary, presidential and council elections. However, its rejection of NRMO and sticking to its old name, NRM, cast it as a rebel group in government.

No one took the owners NRM to court for remaining a rebel group and participating in elections in Uganda and determine the future of Uganda while still a bush war organisation. Indeed, in every aspect of human life and endeavour NRM has continued to operate and resist anything that makes sense to Ugandans in favour of its own interests.  This way it is resisting Ugandans instead and imposing itself on them.

When I was researching for my article “Uganda: How the Mafia have rendered the National Resistance Movement Dysfunctional and Irrelevant” I asked a cross section of Ugandans in the country and in the diaspora: Is the National Resistance Movement a Mafia Organisation?”

In asking this question, I was guided by the following:

1. National Resistance Movement seems to be owned by a few political families.
2. Many people who have been engaged in dangerous deals that have ended up causing financial haemorrhage of the country are highly placed in the NRM
3. The claims of two high-ranking members of the NRM government -Former Vice-President Prof. Gilbert Balibaseka Bukenya and current Prime Minister of Uganda, Robinah Nabbanja, that there are Mafias in the NRM government.
4. There are Mafias in Africa, which have penetrated the economies of especially corrupt countries andmafia-style groups and networks exist in Africa, engaging in various criminal activities. 
5. The choice by the leaders of NRM to reject the official party name of NRMO and retain the bush war name NRM.
6. The continuing financial haemorrhage of Uganda by the NRM using its caucus in Parliament to divert trillions of shillings to consumptive ventures such as NRM/A Liberation Celebrations, et cetera.
7. Impoverishing projects such as the Coffee Project and Lubowa Hospital Project.
8. Inflating the national debt (domestic and foreign) to over 90 trillion over a period of nearly 40 years without evidence of commensurate development of the country.
9. A Uganda Constitution 1995 that has allowed the capture of every civic space by the army and also the socio-economic process of the country in favour of foreigners.
10. Tax holidays to foreign firms and sinking public money in them without
11. Hereditary politics of political families that are also highly placed in the NRM and are involved in shadowy deals and businesses.
12. A Uganda economy that does not deliver social goods and services to the indigenes of Uganda as much as it allows their exploitation by big political families and foreigners.
13. Critical decisions on governance are decided by the NRM/NRA Parliamentary caucus, or the Central Executive Committee (CEC) outside the National Parliament,

So, when I asked to know whether the National Resistance Movement (NRM) was a Mafia organisation these are some of the answers I got:

1. No. NRM is not a Mafia organisation.
2. Yes, NRM is a Criminal Organisation.
3. NRM is a mass Non-party organisation.
4. NRM is a Cartel.
5. NRM is a rebel organisation in power resisting Ugandans and their public interests.
6. NRM is a militarist organisation serving the interests of settlers and/or refugees in Uganda.
7. Most people involved in illegal activities such as money-laundering, human trafficking and human organ trade are NRM.
8. Owners of loan-sharking and human trafficking firms are NRM.
9. There have been many gangs in NRM claiming to be members of NRM and supported by power.
10. The destruction of moral values by the NRM regime has allowed criminals to run the state.
11. The judiciary, which is fully captured by the NRM/NRA cadre judges to the point where the judges can no longer be expected to dispense justice without fear or favor, ill-will or affection.
12. The Ugandan State has become President Tibuhaburwa Museveni’s personal property. Facts, law and history are tweaked to sustain his ego and perpetuate falsehood. Uganda is a criminal state under the control of the NRM/NRA mafia.
13. Uganda is an origin, transit and destination country for human trafficking, primarily for forced labour and sexual exploitation. Most adult victims are subjected to domestic servitude or forced labour in various sectors.
14. Outside of Kampala, gangs known as ‘iron bar gangs’, periodically extort businesses, residents and visitors. Although cases are widespread, most of them are not linked to organized crime.
15. Uganda has become a hub for arms trafficking across East, Central and West Africa, with one of the highest rates of gun violence in the region. 
16. Uganda is a hub for counterfeit goods, and this is a huge burden on the country’s economic growth. Uganda’s borders with Kenya make it a hotspot for counterfeit goods trading
17. Uganda is also a notable transit hub for wildlife trafficking, particularly for ivory, rhino horn and pangolin. Entebbe airport is a known hub for wildlife smuggling, due to high levels of corruption
18. Uganda’s natural resource industry, particularly gold, has seen a significant rise in illegal activity in recent years. 
19. The domestic cocaine market in Uganda is expanding, with powder and crack cocaine consumption on the rise.
20. Uganda is recognized as a considerable cannabis exporter in the region, with cultivation occurring in several districts throughout the country.
21. Key Ugandan government agencies lose billions of US dollars to corruption and financial crimes annually, as well as hundreds of millions lost in fraudulent procurement deals.
22. High-level Ugandan officials have been implicated in organized crime, and the country’s presidential elections are allegedly influenced by vote-buying and security services suppressing opposition activities
23. Criminal networks in Uganda operate across all criminal markets, thanks to rampant corruption and an abundance of resources
24. The private sector is closely intertwined with politics, and corruption is central for its advancement.  When the IGG wanted to apply Life style Audit to catch the thieves  the President advised her not to, arguing she would discourage the corrupt from investing their loot, which he said was mainly government, money, in Uganda.
25. The state, security and ruling party institutions have become so intertwined that the separation of powers is de-facto suspended. 
26. Corruption is politically engineered and institutionalised in Uganda from top to bottom.

For God and My County

Further Reading

ANCIR (?). Mafia In Africa: How the Mafia Penetrates the African Economy. https://mafiainafrica.investigativecenters.org/ Visited on 4 April 2025 at 12:03 pm EAT.

BRIAN ADAMS KESIIME and Benson Tumusiime (2023).Notorious Kampala robbery suspect Sobi killed in Gomba land fight. The Monitor, November 18 2023https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/notorious-kampala-robbery-suspect-sobi-killed-in-gomba-land-fight-4468528 Visited on 05 April 2025 at 19:02 pm EAT

Grabianowsk, Ed and John Donovan (?). How the Mafia Works. HowStuffWorks, https://people.howstuffworks.com/mafia.htm Visited on 4 April 2025 at 11:44 am EAT.

Kungu Al-mahadi Adam (2025). BLOG: Gangs in Uganda: A Ticking Time Bomb. ChimpReports, January 4 2025, https://chimpreports.com/blog-gangs-in-uganda-a-ticking-time-bomb/ Visited on 04 April 2025 at 13:18 pm EAT.

Matogo, Phillip (2021). Let “the Mafia” Run Uganda. Daily Monitor, June 06 2025.https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/oped/commentary/let-the-mafia-run-uganda-3427628 Visited on 04 April 2025 at 12:37 pm EAT.

Obote Odora (2021).Uganda’s mafia family: How Gen. Museveni’s NRM transformed a weak state into a criminal enterprise. Sportlight East Africa,Mar 26, 2021.https://www.spotlighteastafrica.com/post/uganda-s-mafia-family-how-gen-museveni-s-nrm-transformed-a-weak-state-into-a-criminal-enterprise Visited on 05 April 2025 at 19: 08 pm EAT.

Onyango- Obbo, Charles (2023). This Mafia has ruled Uganda for 50 Years. Daily Monitor, January 5 2023, https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/oped/columnists/charles-onyango-obbo/this-mafia-has-ruled-uganda-for-50-years-4098396 Visited on 04 April 2025 at 13:08 pm EAT.

Oweyegha-Afunaduula (2022). The political engineering of corruption in Uganda. Watchdog, 2 March 2022.https://www.watchdoguganda.com/op-ed/20220302/131201/oweyegha-afunaduula-the-political-engineering-of-corruption-in-uganda.html Visited on 05 April 2025 at 19:59 pm EAT.

Oweyegha-Afunaduula and Charles Kawagga (2023). The Engineering and Institutionalisation of Corruption by the OPM.  Uganda Radio Network, 31sy July 2023, https://ugandaradionetwork.com/s/the-engineering-and-institutionalisation-of-corruption-by-the-opm/ Visited on 05 April 2025 at 20:03 pm EAT.

UGANDA RADIO NETWORK (2023).  Are there Mafias in Uganda? Uganda Radio Network, August 21 2023https://ugandaradionetwork.com/s/are-there-mafias-in-uganda/ Visited on 4th April 2025 at 12:19 pm EAT.