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Inside the NRM vote hunting playbook
President Museveni
What you need to know:
- Ms Hadijah Namyalo last week unveiled a new slogan dubbed, Settle for the best, Museveni is the best, which officials say will drive the 2026 vote hunt for President Museveni, the NRM National Chairman, at her Kampala office.
The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party on Tuesday embarked on countrywide validation of their voters’ register and election of village chairpersons ahead of the 2026 General Election. The strategies will act as the foundation for the party’s mass mobilisation driven by the Office of the National Chairman (ONC) led by Ms Hadijah Namyalo, the national coordinator.
Ms Namyalo last week unveiled a new slogan dubbed, Settle for the best, Museveni is the best, which officials say will drive the 2026 vote hunt for President Museveni, the NRM National Chairman, at her Kampala office. Mr Museveni has been in power since 1986 and is running to secure his seventh 5-year-elective term in office. Ms Namyalo who was recently picked by Mr Museveni to lead his 2026 vote hunt, informed the gathering that the slogan would be key in mobilising Ugandans.
“We shall ensure we move across the country to solicit support for our candidate whom we believe has done the best for this country in terms of security, and social-economic spheres,” the national coordinator said. With less than 10 months to the 2026 General Election, Ms Namyalo said the new slogan would help the party restore its victories.
The party unveiled its road map for the election of candidates to field in the 2026 polls. Following his significant defeat in Buganda region in the 2021 General Election, Mr Museveni picked Ms Namyalo to lead his Kyambogo-based office with an aim of reaching out to the people who had reportedly been left out on his transformation agenda. Through different economic empowerment programmes across the country, Ms Namyalo has reached out to several communities, including the youths and women.
She said the “Tova Ku Main, Jajja Omalako” campaign slogan that persuaded Mr Museveni to accept to run for another term, will deliver a victory for the ruling NRM. “The journey of having President Museveni back on the ballot has not been easy. We have faced both internal and external challenges where our own people within the party were fighting us, and we also had to deal with the Opposition, especially those that decampaign Uganda abroad,” she said.
Ms Namyalo added: “We are seeing saboteurs trying to popularise the protest vote but we must come up and protect what we have built.” Mr Museveni, who rose to power through a fierce five-year guerilla war between 1981 and 1986, has ruled Uganda for 39 years now.
Hadijah Namyalo Uzeiye, head of the Office of the National Chairman of the ruling NRM party. PHOTO/FILE/HANDOUT
Of these, 29 years have been through elections which started in 1996 when he defeated his closest rival Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere. Between 2001 and 2016, Mr Museveni defeated his fiercest competitor and former Bush war physician Dr Kizza Besigye in all the four presidential elections. In the 2021 polls, Mr Museveni defeated National Unity Platform (NUP) party’s Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine.
Stakes in Central region
Data extracted from the EC’s Voter Count by District in the 2021 General Election, show that central region had the biggest number of voters at 5.4 million, followed by western with 5.2 million, eastern 4.2 million, and northern with 3.2 million voters. Buganda and Kampala sub-regions that make up central region voted most for Opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) party. NUP defeated several NRM candidates including President Museveni defeated by Mr Kyagulanyi, the NUP president. The 2021 District Summary Report on the Presidential Elections by EC showed that Mr Kyagulanyi scored 391,787 votes against Mr Museveni’s 128,658 votes in Wakiso.
NUP defeats NRM in Central
Although Mr Museveni won the polls with 5.85 million votes (58.6 percent), beating Mr Kyagulanyi who secured 34.48 million votes (34.83 percent), the latter’s party took the lion’s share of parliamentary seats in central region. At least 21 notable NRM ministers from Buganda and other parts of the country lost in the 2021 General Election.
They included then Vice President Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi, former Government Chief Whip Ruth Nankabirwa, former State minister for Primary Education Rosemary Nansubuga Seninde from Wakiso District, State minister for Higher Education Chrysostom Muyingo from Bamunanika, former Agriculture and Defence minister Vincent Ssempijja, and former Lands minister and Inspector General of Government Beti Kamya.
Also, former minister of Trade and Cooperatives Amelia Kyambadde, State minister for Microfinance Haruna Kasolo, Lands minister Judith Nabakooba, and former State minister for Water Ronald Kibuule lost their seats in 2021. Other ministers from various parts of the country also faced similar defeat and included State minister for Defence Christopher Kibazanga, State minister for Economic Affairs Dr Kasirivu Atwooki, State minister for Luweero Triangle Denis Ssozi Galabuzi, State minister for Urban Development Isaac Isanga Musumba, State for East African Affairs Julius Maganda and State minister for Youth and Children Nakiwala Florence Kiyingi.
