As the 2026 general election heats up, the NRM Party has successfully concluded the registration exercise of its members culminating into a clean, credible register paving way for internal structural and primary elections to produce flag-bearers for various elective positions. The Party’s Secretary General Richard Todwong caught up with Stephen Bwire in a no-holds-barred interview on the party’s preparedness for elections.
1.The Party has recently concluded the registration and validation of its membership register, which includes the voters’ register. What are your thoughts on the Register?
I can confidently say that for the first time in the history of NRM as a political party, we have got a credible membership and voters’ register. Having a clean and credible register for the party was part of my commitment when I was appointed to head the party secretariat as secretary general, and I am happy that it has become a reality. I express my gratitude to the national Chairman H.E Yoweri Kaguta Museveni for the generous support and guidance from the time we commenced the registration exercise. H.E the President, together with the First Lady, Mama Janet, took time to travel to their respective villages to attend the most crucial aspect of the registration exercise, which was the village barazas or meetings. This is not to forget my fellow management team who have worked day and night to coordinate, supervise and manage the entire process. Teamwork has delivered this success of a credible register. That said, we have been able to organise our internal structural elections to elect new office bearers for the party, and we are in the process of conducting primaries to produce candidates or flag-bearers for the various elective positions in government—all on the basis of a clean and credible register.
2.How does a credible register strengthen the democratization process of the Party?
Democracy is all about the people expressing their free will to participate in the affairs that affect their lives, and this includes the right to vote and choose their leaders through the electoral process. You can’t choose leaders without a credible voters’ register. We have previously had incidents of flawed elections especially primaries stemming from disputes over the credibility of the voters’ register; and this [questionable register] forced some people to contest as independents. Now that we have a credible register, the members are confident about the outcome of the electoral process on the understanding that the people who are electing the leaders and those are being elected are the very people captured in the membership and voters’ register.
3.There are allegations of the Register being tampered with by politicians, disenfranchising certain party members in the electoral process. What do you have to say about this?
Yes, in the initial stages of the registration exercise, we started receiving reports from some areas of politicians interfering with the exercise. There were allegations of some field officers being offered bribes to inflate the numbers of people on the register; we launched investigations into these clams and found out that some of the allegations were indeed true. We went through the next phase of verifying the actual details provided by members on the register, and this is where we deleted people who had infiltrated the register. And mind you, we have developed an effective data information system that is able to scrutinize all details and remedy the defects on the register. If you register more than once, or your name and particulars appear repeated, the system’s algorithm will automatically eliminate that anomaly. It’s a water- tight process that is difficult to infiltrate. The last phase was the village barazas or meetings where members would sit in a meeting, and identify the real members while rejecting those who are not part of that particular village.
4.What steps is the Party taking to address the removal of party members from the Register, assuming the allegation is valid?
We created specific desks to receive and handle complaints from people whose names and other details had been allegedly removed from the register. Those who were unduly removed were immediately restored onto the register. But there are also claims of people who would complain of being removed from the register, and yet in actual sense they didn’t register at all. Those who were unfairly removed were re-included.
5.We have observed numerous individuals selecting Expression of Interest Forms to stand for various elective positions within the Party. What accounts for the unprecedented increase in the number of aspirants?
The surging numbers of people showing interest as to contest for party positions within the party is a validation of the NRM’s democritisation process. It demonstrates the fact that the party is still strong at all levels owing to our ideals of democracy, pan-africanism, patriotism and socio-economic transformation. The people have seen that the NRM as a mass organisation is the only partycapable of managing Uganda well basing on the strong performance record in the last 40 years under the able strategic leadership of President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.The people still want continuity of peace, democracy and progress. If NRM was a dead party, I don’t think anybody would wish to associate with it.
6.How is the Party equipped to manage electoral positions?
The party has set up systems and mechanisms to manage disputes arising from our internal elections. We have got a fully-fledged Electoral Tribunal comprising a team of competent lawyers to handle matters as they arise. Already, a number of disputes from the recently-concluded structural elections have been amicably handled leaving members satisfied.
7.The previous Electoral Tribunal was alleged to have been inadequate in managing disputes; some Tribunal members were accused of accepting bribes from candidates to sway the electoral outcome. How different will the next Tribunal be?
I have confidence in our Tribunal that they will deliver to the satisfaction of the members. In any case, the members of the Tribunal are carefully selected having gone through a rigorous vetting process. We cross-check the background and integrity of an individual before appointing them on the Tribunal with final endorsement of the Party Chairman. I assure the party members and those contesting that their issues shall be handled with fairness, speed and finality.
8.You recently appeared stern towards individuals standing as Independents after losing primaries. How will this action restore discipline and cohesion within the Party?
The constitution of the NRM party is clear on issues of discipline. It’s against the party’s wish and interest for a member to stand against the party flag-bearer after losing primary elections. This is indiscipline, and also betrayal of the party. Individuals who would go as independents risk expulsion from the party or other punitive measures. The national chairman has pronounced himself strongly and clearly on issues of discipline for party cadres.
9.You are presiding over your first general election as secretary-general. What can stakeholders expect from your leadership during this election?
I cannot say that I will perform miracles or wonders since am also a mere human being prone to making mistakes. My pledge is to do the best that I can manage under the circumstances with the full support and guidance of the top party leadership including the party chairman, and members of the party. I am working with a strong competent team to deliver to the expectation of the members of the party.
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