NATIONWIDE | The National Resistance Movement (NRM) has announced its intention to support President Museveni as a candidate for the 2026 elections, asserting that he remains the best candidate for the party leadership.
The decision is not surprising, but it has sparked debate as to whether Museveni’s position as party leader is simply unassailable or whether the political landscape is designed to thwart challengers. The question then arises: who would dare challenge Museveni, and why haven’t they?NRM General Secretary Richard Todwon revealed that his office has been inundated with petitions from party members across the country who argue that no one should challenge Museveni’s leadership.
“Many people think it’s easy to lead a political party or a country,” Todwon explained. “It requires a certain personality and intellectual capacity that nobody other than Museveni has shown.” Todwon also dismissed potential opposition challengers as “very superficial.” While these views reflect the internal dynamics of the NRM, not everyone agrees.
Political commentator Sam Kazibwe said, “It is very unfair to ask anyone in the NRM to challenge Museveni. The NRM political organisation was created for Museveni.” In January 1986, Museveni stood on the steps of Parliament House in Kampala and promised “radical change” rather than just a “changing of the guard.” He said he would lead the government in accordance with the NRM’s 10-point programme, which included eradicating corruption and ensuring the rule of law.
However, he was widely criticised for scrapping the programme. It also reneged on a promise that the man who diagnosed Africa’s problems in 1991 and said it was mainly the leaders who had clung to power for 45 years and who would be the ones to do so. A culture of fear and loyalty? Museveni’s dominance has created an atmosphere that makes ambitions unsafe, according to political analyst Nicholas Opiyo.
“It’s as if Museveni went into the bush and hunted his own animal, which was his. He protected it and crushed ambitions within the party,” Opiyo said. Kazibwe argues that even having a dissenting voice within the NRM is a serious offence. “The question of whether people are interested in the number one position in the NRM is a question that will only exist after Museveni’s rule. And I don’t know if the NRM even exists yet,” he said.
Critics question the purpose of NRM party structures such as deputy chairpersons and regional deputy chairpersons if there is no one deemed capable of succeeding Museveni. Opiyo argues that these positions only matter as long as Museveni is in power.
“Their survival depends on Museveni’s fate. They realize they cannot succeed him, much less nominate his son as a potential successor, and question his decision,” he said. Political scientist Arthur Awor describes the NRM’s structure as “essentially autocratic.
” He suspects the party’s leadership approach has evolved to ensure Museveni’s retention in power. “The politics around NRM have evolved from the president himself. Implications like ‘no change’ have become de facto performative politics.
They refer to the president as ‘jaja’ (grandfather) and their supporters as ‘bazukuru’ (grandsons), and as a result, it has become fashionable to remain in power for long,” Awol said. The question remains: Will anyone dare challenge Museveni or is the NRM destined to remain in his sphere?
