NRM to register members without National IDs – Mukula

Iganga, (UG):- The Vice Chairperson of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) for Eastern region captain George Mike Mukula has assured NRM supporters that they are tirelessly working on a method to accommodate their members without National IDs in the ongoing exercise of updating the register of NRM Yellow Book.

Capt. Mukula has also understood from the public that some NRM members presented their National IDs to some money lenders as security and he said they have since discussed the matter with the internal affairs minister to have the matter solved by retrieving some copies to ease the registration exercise.

The vice chairman was on Friday, March 15, 2024, touring some of the registration centres in the Eastern region, particularly Jinja and Iganga to ascertain the turnup of members for the NRM register update exercise in the Eastern area of his jurisdiction and also establish the challenges being faced by stakeholders in the exercise. He learnt that some members lack NIN numbers while other centres are having a low turn-up for the exercise.

“There are people with their NINs but their National IDs were held by the money lenders. We are going to get a way of getting copies to have them registered and we shall put this right we have talked to Minister Kahinda Otafire to see how we can handle this issue. We call upon members of the NRM to use the remaining time and update their particulars in the register,” Capt Mukula said.

He said they are going to engage the president who is also the national NRM chairperson and see if it will be necessary to extend the registration deadline for those who may not be captured in the seven days.

While touring registration centres in Iganga, Cap Mike Mukula was accompanied by the NRM chairman for Iganga district Hajji. Walubi Abubakar, the Iganga NRM administrative secretary Mr. Tonny Nabala Ivulungo and other NRM leaders in the district.

He called upon the NRM leaders at village levels to mobilize people for the registration and register update exercise which is now left with one day to close officially. The exercise which began on Wednesday this week will be officially ending tomorrow Sunday.

He says they are aiming at registering children between the ages of 16 and 17 such that they are part of the voters in the 2026 general elections.

“We have youths who are still IN schools in both day and boarding sections and we shall get a register for children below 18 years. They will not vote in the coming NRM primaries but they can vote in the 2026 general elections and we are going to get them NIN numbers such that they get National IDs,” Mukula added.

With the issue of some members of the public thinking that the NRM is not linked to Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU), a pressure group of the presidential advisor on special operations and also the first son Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Cap. Mike Mukula clarified saying the two organizations are the same citing the fact that they are carrying out a similar duty of mobilizing people for continuity of a better nation.

“Some people say PLU of our son Muhoozi is confusing the stand of some people in the NRM party. PLU is a pressure group and a think-tank but it work with NRM and if they are doing what is not contrary to NRM like mobilizing people and bringing them on board, it is what we want because we need the people, so PLU will be like the UYD of the DP party,”

“Some of you read the bible and someone went to Jesus and told him, there are people who do whatever you do, they preach the gospel and also heal the people, should we stop them? But Jesus answered that, as long as they don’t do contrary to what we do and say then we are of the same body,” Cap Mukula quoted the scripture in Mark 9:38.

Meanwhile, Iganga NRM chairman Hajji Walubi Abubakar appreciated the eastern vice chairperson in NRM Cap. George Mike Mukula for touring a number of registration centers to establish the challenges being faced by the teams who are registering and the members of the party. He called upon all NRM members to use the remaining time and update their particulars in the NRM register.