Mbarara, Uganda: President Yoweri Museveni, who also serves as the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party chairman, has praised former parliamentary aspirants Michael Tusiime and Bonnie Kashaija for upholding party unity by refusing to run as independents after losing in the party primaries.
Meeting the duo on Thursday, alongside Uganda’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Amb. Adonia Ayebare, Museveni commended their loyalty, saying their decision helped avert divisions within the ruling party.
“I want to thank Hon. Michael Tusiime and Hon. Bonnie Kashaija for patriotically agreeing not to stand for elections as independents in order not to divide our people. They have told me their grievances even from a criminal angle and I am going to check and follow up. I also thank Amb. Adonia for bringing them to me,” Mr Museveni said.
In a show of reconciliation and recognition, the President appointed Kashaija to oversee implementation of the Parish Development Model (PDM) in Mbarara, replacing Joverine Kaliisa. He further revealed that Tusiime would soon be deployed in a similar capacity to support grassroots development initiatives.
Tusiime, the outgoing MP for Mbarara City North who lost to Mwesigwa Rukaari, expressed gratitude to the President for listening to their concerns: “I want to thank His Excellency the President for giving us an opportunity to share issues related to Mbarara and the country at large.
We have agreed, in principle, for the good of the nation and the party, to work together to support NRM and to use every available opportunity to educate our people to get out of poverty, protect the gains of NRM, and consolidate the achievements so far.”
Kashaija, who lost in the recent primaries after previously serving as NRM flagbearer for Mbarara City Woman MP in 2021, pledged to advance the President’s four-acre model as a tool for fighting poverty.
“I will work tirelessly to promote NRM and the well-being of our people. I will champion the four-acre model so that it reaches the grassroots and lifts people out of poverty by increasing household incomes in every village,” she said.
Museveni concluded by assuring the two leaders that their grievances would be addressed transparently, stressing that their choice of dialogue over confrontation would strengthen the party ahead of the 2026 general elections.
If you would like your article/opinion to be published on Uganda’s most authoritative news platform, send your submission on: [email protected]. You can also follow DailyExpress on WhatsApp and on Twitter (X) for realtime updates.
