Museveni: Tribunal, not Tanga, to handle electoral fraud, fake flagbearers in NRM primaries

Kampala, Uganda: President Yoweri Museveni has openly sidelined the NRM Electoral Commission chairperson Dr. Tanga Odoi and ordered that a Special Legal Tribunal handle all disputes arising from the fraudulent party primaries, particularly targeting fake flagbearers and orchestrators of electoral fraud.

In a no-holds-barred statement posted Tuesday evening on X (formerly Twitter), Museveni accused some NRM officials and candidates of polluting the party’s primaries through bribery, violence, and alteration of results, stressing that the party’s image and electoral integrity must be safeguarded at all costs.

“The mistakes included altering results, bribery, and claims of interfering with the registers. These actions were criminal and distorted the politics and the law of elections,” Mr Museveni, who is also the NRM National Chairman, wrote.

The President confirmed that state security agencies, ISO and CID, have already arrested culprits involved in vote tampering across several districts, although he made it clear that the political and legal clean-up would not be handled by Tanga Odoi, but by a lawyers’ tribunal tasked with rectifying the fraudulent outcomes.

“Tanga Odoi cannot be the one who corrects a mistake he made. It is the lawyers’ committee (the Tribunal) that will handle the politics and the Law,” Museveni said, delivering a sharp rebuke of Tanga’s continued role in the chaos.

Mr Museveni, who now refers to himself with the title Ssaabalwanyi – Ssemalungu, maintained that NRM’s lining-up method left no ambiguity about who won at polling stations in broad daylight, accusing those who altered the results afterward of sheer dishonesty and criminality.

“Those affected by the mistakes should know their grievances are being addressed. Everything will be rectified. It is just the facts and evidence that will conclude the matter,” he reassured.

This move marks a decisive shift in how Museveni is dealing with the fallout from the chaotic NRM primaries, brushing aside Tanga Odoi’s influence and placing the matter firmly in the hands of trusted legal experts.

The crackdown, which comes as a third statement from the NRM National Chairman in a space of 2 days, is expected to lead to nullification of fraudulent declarations and possible prosecutions as more petitions fly in at the party EC headquarters in Kampala.

The latest action is also seen as an underlining of Mr Museveni’s resolve to sanitize the NRM’s internal processes ahead of the 2026 general elections, amid growing public outrage from within the party over manipulated outcomes.