With only six months until the 2026 General Elections, a string of veteran lawmakers, some in their 80s, and others running to add as many as 35 years to their tenure, have log-jammed the queue.
The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party dominates the line of aspirants. Among those old hands at the game are Gen (Rtd) Moses Ali, Ms Rebecca Kadaga, and Gen Jim Muhwezi, who all entered Parliament in 1989 as members of the National Resistance Council.
Ms Kadaga, by the forthcoming rounds of elections next year, will have held her seat for 35 years. Currently, Gen Ali is the Second Deputy Prime Minister and Adjumani West MP, who is seeking re-election for the MP seat he has occupied for four five-year terms that will total 25 years by the close of his current term next year.
In the recent nominations to run for 2026 General Elections, planned for January and February next year, a visibly frail Gen Ali was nominated from his car as he could not walk down to the nomination table, sparking a viral debate about the length of service of some of the veteran politicians. Gen Ali also struggled to acknowledge the NRM party EC chair as he handed the nomination documents to him.
Ms Kadaga, on the other hand, is First Deputy Prime Minister, and minister for East African Affairs as well as Kamuli District Woman MP, and is running to retain the seat she has occupied for 36 years now. Ms Kadaga was also a two-term former Deputy Speaker from 2001 to 2011, and Speaker from 2011 to 2021, holding sway over the House for an unbroken 20 years.
Similarly, Gen Muhwezi, the current Security minister and MP of Rujumbura County, had his hold on the constituency broken by an electoral loss between 2016 and 2021. He had held sway over the seat for five consecutive five-year terms, which will total 25 years by the end of his current term next year.
Others
Other past masters of the political game include Maj Gen Kahinda Otafiire, the current Ruhinda County MP, who has been in Parliament since 1996 and is currently the minister of Internal Affairs. He had an interrupted tenure between 2016 and 2021 when lost to then-political novice Capt Donozio Kahonda.
There is also veteran Gen Jeje Odongo, the MP of Orungo County, who has served as a parliamentarian since 1995 and is currently the minister of Foreign Affairs.
Uganda's Minister of Foreign Affairs Gen Jeje Odongo (L), and Ethiopia's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Gedion Timothewos, display copies of MoU's after signing them in Adis Ababa on April 04, 2025. Photo | Courtesy | @UgandaMFA
In this same veteran line up is jocular Finance minister Matia Kasaija, who is also the Buyanja County MP. Mr Kasaija has drawn a line in the sand and announced he would run for his last term in the 2026 polls. This would bring to 25 the number of years he would have served in Parliament should he win and serve out his term by the end of 2030.
Public concerns
Critics say the perpetual and unlimited tenure in politics as illustrated above exposes a deep contradiction in Uganda’s governance rulebook, where public servants are forced to retire at 60 years, High Court judges at 65, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court justices at 70, and yet some MPs, who are also paid by taxpayers, face no age cap in their public service.
This also paints a stark contrast between a noticeably greying leadership of the country where at least 78 percent of the population is under 35, meaning the politicians are leading nearly eight in every 10 Ugandans who are younger than the number of years they have been MPs. But Ms Catherine Bitarakwate Musingwiire, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Public Service, said politicians are not civil servants and do not have a retirement age.
What the law says
The 1995 Constitution of Uganda only sets minimum qualifications for MPs under Article 80, such as being a citizen of Uganda, being at least 18 years old, a registered voter, and possessing the minimum academic qualification of Advanced Level (A-Level) or its equivalent.
The same article also lists grounds for disqualification, including being of unsound mind, holding certain offices related to elections, being declared bankrupt, or being a traditional or cultural leader as defined in the Constitution.
Since there is no upper age limit for MPs, the elderly politicians have no restrictions on their tenure in Parliament. Indeed, as the Electoral Commission (EC) head of Public Relations, Mr Julius Mucunguzi, says, what is not prohibited by the law is not unlawful.
“The only restriction relating to age in our electoral laws applies to defining who qualifies as a youth – between 18 years and below 30 – and the elderly, who must be 60 years and above. The rest have no age limit restrictions. To be a voter, one must be a citizen of Uganda and be 18 and above, registered as a voter, and willing to participate in elections,” Mr Mucunguzi said.
“Once one qualifies to be nominated as a candidate for any elective position if they do not break or contravene any electoral laws, the rest is left to the voters to exercise their power as per Article 1 of the 1995 Constitution, which vests all power to decide who governs them to the people through free and fair elections,” he added.
Mr Mucunguzi said anyone dissatisfied with the candidature of any person can seek redress in the courts of law.
He also said any petition against anyone on the basis of an unsound mind has to be subjected to a court process that may order a medical examination.
“Anyone who has any objection to the participation of anyone in any stage of the electoral process is at liberty to seek redress through the courts of law by adducing evidence to back their claims. The courts are the ones that determine what is just and fair,” Mr Mucunguzi said by telephone.
Politicians, lawyers react
Gen Otafiire, who is seeking to bounce back for the Ruhinda South constituency, while picking his nomination papers, said: “At the end of this term, I will be 75, which means, at the end of the next term, I will be 80 years old, and performance becomes diminished. I'm not saying I will come or not come back, but in my view, at 80 years, performance always becomes diminished.”
Harold Achema. PHOTO/FILE
Mr Harold Achema, a political scientist and a veteran diplomat, said while most of the old hands in politics have served diligently, it’s high time they retired gracefully and allowed the young ones to take over.
“We should encourage, groom, and support promising young Ugandans to fill the shoes of the past masters of our politics. Change is inevitable and good for every society and country, including Uganda. I hope that senior citizens will not contest in the forthcoming 2026 General Election. Let us allow a new breed with new ideas to provide effective leadership, which Uganda needs and deserves for the challenges and problems facing Uganda, the region, and Africa in the 21st century.”
The president of the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party, Mr Patrick Oboi Amuriat, said whereas there is no age limit, one should know when to walk out. “Although there is no term or age limit for one to contest for political positions, the politicians should express their best judgment on when to quit elective politics. When one is in poor health, regardless of their age, they should step aside,” Mr Amuriat said.
The interim spokesperson of the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF) party and Kira Municipality MP, Mr Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, said all MPs who are overly aged should be helped to retire.
Kira municipality MP Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda speaks during PFF promoters' meeting in Kampala on May 12, 2025. PHOTO/ ABUBAKER LUBOWA
Meanwhile, Prof Frederick E. Ssempebwa, a former member of the Constitutional Review Commission told Monitor last month that during their countrywide consultations on the making of the 1995 Constitution, the decision of MPs not having a term limit was the choice of citizens who argued that the people should vote out those they think are incapable.
“It was the demand of the majority of Ugandans because they hadn’t seen change. They wanted to have a peaceful change. They didn’t use that language of term limits; they said there must be a system here where leaders change right from the top. Many even wanted leaders at the parliamentary level not to be there for years,” Prof Ssempebwa said.
He added: “The difference was made that at least MPs are more susceptible to being changed by a vote, unlike the president, who the people feared had power and would use that power to stay on indefinitely.”
The NRM flag bearers for various elective positions will be unveiled next month after the party’s internal elections. More than 2,700 people picked nomination forms to compete in the party's primary elections.
The NRM EC Chairperson, Dr Tanga Odoi, last week indicated that they have so far nominated more than 800 people for various seats ahead of the June 30 deadline. Nominations in other political parties, including NUP, are also underway.
Veterans’ league
1. Moses Ali, 86, Adjumani West (NRM, won 1996, 2001, lost 2006, bounced back 2011, 2016, 2021)
2. Matia Kasaija, 80, Buyanja County (NRM, won 2006, 20011, 2016, 2021)
3. Ephraim Kamuntu, 79, Sheema South (NRM, won 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016, lost 2021)
4. Peter Lokeris, 78, Chekwii County (NRM, won 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016, 2021)
5. Hilary Onek, 77, Palabek County (NRM, won 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016, 2021)
6. Jeje Odongo 71, Orungo County (NRM, won 1996, 2001)
7. Kahinda Otafiire, 74, Ruhinda County (NRM, won 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011, lost 2016, bounced back 2021).
8. Jim Muhwezi, 74, Rujumbura County (NRM, won 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011 lost 2016, bounced 2021)
9. Rebecca Kadaga, 69, Kamuli Woman (NRM, won 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016, 2021)
10. Musa Francis Ecweru, 60, Amuria County (NRM, won 2006, 2011, 2016, 2021)
11. Felix Okot Ogong, 60, Dokolo South (NRM, won 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016 and 2021)
League of 20-plus years
12. Abdu Katuntu, 59, Bugweri County (Ind, won 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016, 2021)
13. Betty Amongi, 49, Oyam South (UPC, won 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016, 2021)
14 Jessica Alupo, 51, Katakwi Woman (NRM, won 2001, 2006, 2011, lost 2016, bounced back 2021)
15 Nandala Mafabi, 59, Budadiri County West (FDC, won 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016, 2021).
16 Theodore Ssekikubo, 55, Lwemiyaga County (NRM, won 1996, 2001, 2006, 20011, 2016, 2021)
17. Jimmy Akena, 57, Lira East Division (UPC, won 2006, 2011, 2016 and 2021)
18. Abrahams Peter Lokii, 55, Jie County (NRM, won 2006, 2011, 2016 and 2021)
19. Mudimi Wamakuyu, 54, Elgon County (NRM, won 2006, 2011, 2016 and 2021)
20. Barnabas Tinkasimire, 52, Buyaga West (NRM, won 2006, 2011, 2016 and 2021)
21. Chris Baryomunsi, 55, Kinkizi East (NRM, won 2006, 2011, 2016 and 2021)
22. David Bahat, 51, Ndorwa West (NRM, won 2006, 2011, 2016 and 2021)
23. Elijah Okupa, 56, Kasilo County (FDC, won 2001, 2006, 2011, 2021)
