President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni early this week met and held closed-door discussions with General Muhoozi and members of the “Mohoozi Movement” Central Committee(CC). The two Generals discussed many things that might not have been accessible to the public but the key among them was certainly patriotism and cohesion as revealed in the update by the senior general himself on Twitter.
The meeting must have come as a big relief to most people in both the Movement and NRM, including myself. For the last year, or so, the debate on who between General Muhoozi and General Museveni will carry forward NRM’s program at the next polls had almost degenerated into confusion.
General Muhoozi has repeatedly assured his supporters he will take part in the next presidential elections amid a backlash from some members of the ruling side. Party Electoral Commission Chief, Dr Tanga Odoi recently chest-thumping, reassuring the country there is none other than the President he will clear for the presidency in 2026 as the person with the mandate to stamp on the clearance for all NRM candidates for an election.
General Kahinda Zavirio Otafire has also downplayed calls for a standby generator at a time when the one in service has exhibited no faults whatsoever to call for a replacement. He still feels General Museveni remains a viable option and displacing him now would risk undoing the great things achieved in the previous decades of the NRM revolution.
The position of General Otafire is identical to that of party secretary general Richard Todwong who has persistently indicated that General Museveni remains the sole party’s preferred choice. Todwongo’s revelation has since been backed by Special Presidential Advisor Hajjati Hadijah Nzeiye Namyalo’s “Jajja Tova Ku Main” which has already been roaming across the country. Namyalo has persistently marketed Museveni as the unrivalled candidate come 2026.
Surprisingly, members of the Mohoozi movement have shown no signs of slowing down. Chief crusaders like Balaam Burugahara, Tamale Joseph Mirundi, Dawudi Kabanda, Lillian Abber, Micheal Nuwagira aka Toyota, and the entire Muhoozi army has not shied away from insisting their man will be on the ballot in 2026 come what may.
Unlike Museveni who has remained coy on his 2026 reelection plans, General Muhoozi has loudly made his intention to contest very clear. When asked to devote to the 2026 ambition by intern Doctors in January last year, Museveni suspiciously avoided the conversation, rather encouraging the audience to focus on wealth creation for the time for elections was over. He would still give the same response while in Amuru district when the local leaders asked to endorse him for the seat he has occupied since 1986.
When the two met last week, it served to allay the fears from either side that possible clashes could follow. The meeting was an outright indicator it would be an analytical blunder for anyone to assume any kind of rivalry between the Mohoozi-led Movement and its counterpart led by Museveni. It indicated that whatever happens between now and 2026 will be an outcome of an agreement between the two forces. This gives relief and hopes to many of us who would have been worried that gains of the past nearly forty years of nation-building under the NRM are at stake.
With the good gesture exhibited by the cordial chat, we can finally relax and be contented that the country is on its sure course for its first peaceful transfer of power. Whether that comes in 2026 or 2040 it’s not a big concern as long as the peace of the wanting is guaranteed.
The writer is the Deputy RCC for Soroti East Division
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