Namutumba, Uganda: The State Minister for Housing, Hon. Princess Persis Namuganza, has threatened to abandon the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) and contest as an independent candidate if President Museveni does not intervene in the disputed party primaries in Namutumba district.
Incumbent Woman MP Naigaga Mariam, Busiki’s Hon. Paul Akamba, Maganda Emmanuel for Bukono constituency, and Asupasa Mpongo in Busiki North were declared NRM flag bearers despite claims that they lost.
Namuganza, who openly voiced her frustration during a heated address to her supporters at Namutumba Town Council headquarters on Saturday, accused top NRM electoral officials of orchestrating irregularities during the recent primaries.
She specifically pointed fingers at the party’s electoral machinery for manipulating results to favour candidates she says did not win.
According to Namuganza, the NRM district registrars, acting under instructions from powerful individuals within the party, declared losers as winners, denying genuine victors the NRM ticket for the 2026 elections.
She named Speaker Anita Among and NRM Electoral Commission Chairperson Dr. Tanga Odoi as key figures behind what she described as a deliberate campaign to undermine Busoga’s political strongholds.
Namuganza insists that Brenda Nakisita had won the Woman MP race but was controversially overlooked in favour of Naigaga. She also claims she herself rightfully won Bukono but was robbed of victory through backdoor dealings.
Speaking to her supporters, Namuganza said, “Speaker Anita Among and Tanga Odoi were behind this confusion. Registrars and security were only taking orders from them. Some of us are not going to meet Tanga because we know you are our bosses, not him.”
Namuganza further decried the violence and voter intimidation in Kibaale Sub County, which marred the polling process. “Some of these actions are being fueled by the so-called Team Mulamu with the intention to weaken Busoga’s political base. I call upon you to rise against these individuals who are only fighting their own people,” she told her supporters.
She warned that if President Museveni does not address these grievances, she and her supporters will boycott the upcoming LC5 primaries in the district. Namuganza also hinted at joining another political formation if the situation remains unresolved.
In a related escalation, angry voters in Namutumba took to the streets in protest, blocking roads and burning yellow NRM T-shirts in defiance. They accused the district registrar, Mr. Mwanja Richard, of orchestrating the chaos under orders from higher authorities within the party hierarchy. The demonstrators specifically held Tanga Odoi responsible for fueling what they termed an electoral sham.
Nakisita Betty, who contested against Naigaga, said the entire electoral process was riddled with fraud. She revealed that results from Kibaale Sub County, initially disqualified over irregularities, were later sneaked back into the final tally to favour Naigaga. “The registrar had already ruled out those results, but because the tally wasn’t favouring Hon. Naigaga, orders came from above for her to be declared,” she claimed.
In a dramatic twist, NRM’s electoral process in Namutumba took another turn when Registrar Mwanja on Saturday overturned the Friday declaration that had handed Hon. Paul Akamba the Busiki constituency flag. Mwanja instead announced Waiswa Joel Azalwa as the rightful winner with 35,249 votes against Akamba’s 34,269.
“Today, Waiswa Joel Azalwa is the winner of Busiki’s NRM flag. Whatever has been circulating in the media is not true. What I am declaring now is final and no one shall overturn it,” Mwanja declared at 9:38 am on Saturday.
Waiswa Joel Azalwa welcomed the development, attributing his victory to God and pledging to work closely with the government to spearhead development initiatives in Busiki constituency.
The unfolding drama in Namutumba underscores growing tensions within the NRM ahead of the 2026 general elections, with threats of defections and voter disenchantment mounting over allegations of manipulated primaries.
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