By Hakim Kyeswa
Since the registration of the National Resistance Movement as a Political Party transforming from the Movement, Mobilizers have acted as a strong pillar to grow the party support base across the country.
Their contribution is recognized in the continued electoral victories for the Presidential vacancy and in maintaining the majority seats at the Parliamentary level.
Despite the mobilizers who are foot soldiers of the party critical role, there has never been any socio-economic arrangement set for their empowerment to alleviate poverty which has been the major enemy of Uganda for the past 37 years since 1986.
They have always been rolled back to play nearing general elections and given on empty promises. Shockingly, the media for the last 17 years since 2005 has reported NRM mobilizers used as being used and dumbed with party bigwigs swimming in billions of mobilization resources.
If you take an interest in checking on the mass wealth accumulated by officials at the National Resistance Movement, you immediately note modern slavery drawing the officials at the party as masters and the mobilizers slaves.
To the most dismay, the opposition has gained massively from the National Resistance Movement as regards empowerment with some of them steering the party’s key roles as top administrators and others enjoying ministerial positions. This unfair treatment and disrespect to mobilizers forced some groups to shun the party especially the National Chairman Rtd Gen Y K Museveni who is also the President of Uganda in support of his long-time comrade Rt. Hon Amama Mbabazi a former Secretary General of the NRM in the 2016 elections.
This wild treatment of mobilizers had drawn away the Youth from the National Resistance Movement especially their support from Rtd Gen YK Museveni. After the Poor Youth Movement, several formations emerged with the most recent opting to promote Gen Muhoozi to contest against his father Rtd Gen YK Museveni under a separate political formation alleged to own the name of Peoples’ Progressive Movement.
The NRM National Chairman President Museveni has been concerned about this mismanagement as regards to his mobilizers but always smartly played by the organized group managing roles at different structures of the party with false reports until the 2021 elections when he registered a sharp fall in his electoral performance, especially in the Buganda Region which holds the historical bases of the NRA/M protracted bush war of 1981-86.
In some filed reports to explain the failure in the 2021 elections, one of the party leaders for the Central Region reported “Your Excellency your brand is no longer appealing to the Youth and your son can be the Jesus Christ to the party in 2026”
As a man of careful steps, he never responded to reports until a confidential investigation was held and the same official reflected to have walked away with billions of mobilization funds for the Central Region in the 2021 scientific elections due to Covid 19. The bitter NRM National Chairman thoughtfully deployed Hajjat Hadijah Namyalo Uzeiye a long-time carder of the NRM to manage his office of the National Chairman at Kyambogo with strict instructions to bring back his youth support base (Bazzukulu) from wherever they are.
Resistance immediately emerged against Hajjat Hadijah that she had to manage his party roles on the compound of the ONC offices in Kyambogo as the access keys to offices had been held by one of the top party officials on instructions of a senior minister.
Less was expected of the new manager of the ONC following the culture of her predecessors. The creative Museveni daughter started by setting up a structure of coordinators across the country whom she convinced her boss Rtd Gen Museveni to pay a monthly allowance as they execute their roles under her supervision.
Namyalo faced a challenge of the wolves in a sheepskin among the coordinators she identified that some after a short while wanted to topple her vacancy using security organs to draw false reports to the appointing authority.
With her rich experience as regards mafiarism in the NRM party, Hajjat Hadijah managed to identify her enemies and immediately fired them. She swiftly took the next step of empowering supporters of the NRM in the districts of Greater Luweero, Greater Masaka, Mbale City, Jinja City, and Greater Mukono with poultry and hybrid goat farming projects through which she empowered more than 500 households as beneficiaries in addition to sewing machines, saloon equipment, brick-making machines etc.
This strategic move silenced her enemies and drew back the hearts of the NRM supporters to the National Chairman NRM Rtd Gen YK Museveni.
Acting like Jesus Christ, Hajjat Hadijah puts her master at the front of all her mobilization roles, unlike her predecessors. These mathematical mobilization steps motivated the Members of Parliament who had been suffocated by their colleagues to pass a resolution during their recent retreat at Kyankwanzi for the National Chairman NRM Rtd Gen YK Museveni as again their preferred candidate for Presidency in the 2026 elections. The experienced Rtd Gen Museveni declined the move but cleared the air about self-seekers who are surrounding his son Gen Muhoozi with ill intentions.
Hajjat Namyalo finished the game recently when she organized NRM mobilizers and held an event to commemorate the Katonga Heroes and celebrate the achievements of Rtd Gen Museveni as he clocked 79 years of age. The September 8, 2023 event of last month disproved all the nay-sayers after Hajjat Hadijah and NRM mobilizers filled Kololo to extra capacity with the residents of Kampala Metropolitan who believe in the leadership of Rtd Gen YK Museveni.
Surprisingly, the same inner group fighting to keep NRM mobilizers as slaves, paid close to 100 million to media entities not to advertise the Katonga event to fail Hajjat Hadijah but by the grace of God, they sown on a rock as reflected in the Bible.
Mobilizers still thought they had been used and dumped as always, but were shocked when Hajjat Hadijah invited them to the ONC offices and thanked them for their contribution to the success of the event.
On the 27th of September, 2023 (last month) she again invited about 100 groups of NRM mobilizers to mention; Village to Village NRM mobilizers, Kasangati Youth Association, Boda Boda Industry Kampala – Central, Builders, 7 Hills Kampala and Farmers Group Mukono, UPDF Veterans, Masaka City NRM mobilizers, etc and empowered them with; welding machines, Popcorn machines, Hair dryers, Sewing machines, G-Nuts grinding machines, spraying pumps, fertilizers, etc as support from the National Chairman NRM Rtd Gen YK Museveni to enable them to contribute to the economic growth of Uganda as they fight poverty from their households.
Hajjat Hadijah said to them “Muzee values your contribution to the party and he is determined to see that no more frustrations to his mobilizers”.
This move to support NRM mobilizers by the National Chairman Rtd Gen YK Museveni has bridged the gap between him and mobilizers which is a strategic move to regain the shrinking glory of the National Resistance Movement and the brand of His Excellency Museveni as the preferred choice for NRM Presidential flag bearer.
The writer, Hakim Kyeswa is the Head of Digital Media at the Office of the National Chairman – NRM (ONC)
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