KAMPALA, UGANDA – The National Resistance Movement (NRM) has launched a campaign to convince members who lost in the party primaries to abandon independent bids and support its official candidates.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The party leadership argues that the proliferation of independent candidates from within its ranks dangerously splits the vote, providing an easy pathway for opposition candidates to secure victories.
The message was delivered emphatically during a reconciliation meeting in Kampala organized by Haruna Kasolo, the NRM Vice Chairperson for Central Uganda, and attended by several party stalwarts.
The gathering served as a platform to mend fences following the recently concluded, divisive party primary elections for parliamentary, Local Council, and CEC positions, which were often contentious.
NRM Vice Chairperson Haruna Kasolo announced the early success of the party’s internal reconciliation efforts, stating that several former primary rivals have been persuaded to abandon their independent bids and pledge support for the party’s official flag bearers.
“I am very happy that many people that had intended to come as independents have made a pronouncement that because of our party they are to rally behind our candidates,” Kasolo said.
Echoing Kasolo’s sentiment, Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka framed the issue as a matter of political pragmatism and unity, warning that internal division was the only gift the NRM needed to hand victory to its opponents.
He urged aggrieved members to move past their grievances for the collective good of the party, calling on them to channel their energy into campaigning for the official flag bearers to ensure a decisive victory.
“You can’t be angry all the time; let’s agree on those things that bring us together. And look at the things that drive us apart and try to look for solutions to those,” Kiwanuka advised.
He provided a stark assessment of the electoral damage caused by independent candidates, directly linking them to past NRM losses that he described as both avoidable and politically costly for the party’s agenda.
“In all the constituencies that we lost, you could see independents and the Opposition taking votes that we would have gathered to win the elections. So that is why we are fighting independents from our side,” Kiwanuka added.
The NRM’s internal campaign underscores a recognized vulnerability within the dominant political party, and its success could prove crucial in determining the party’s performance in the upcoming elections.
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