Arua, Uganda: The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) has explained why President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni’s scheduled campaign rallies on Monday in Lira City, Lira District, and Kole District were abruptly postponed, just hours before the team was expected to arrive in the sub-region.
According to NRM Secretary General Richard Todwong, the change was prompted by “urgent state duties” that required the President’s immediate attention on Monday.
The development, he said, forced the party to halt the scheduled Lango sub-region rallies, which had been planned as part of Museveni’s ongoing countrywide tour.
“The campaigns in Lira City, Lira District, and Kole District, which were slated for Monday, have been postponed. A new date will be communicated,” Todwong told journalists after meeting district planning committees in West Nile on Saturday.
“However, for Oyam on Tuesday, we are on — we shall be there in the morning and later proceed to Pakwach in the afternoon,” he added.
However, party sources told DailyExpress that the President’s decision was made late Friday night following a briefing from the Office of the President on an urgent matter of national concern.
Although details were not disclosed, officials indicated it involved strategic state consultations that could not be delegated. “The President is still the sitting Head of State, and there are moments when national priorities must take precedence over the campaign trail,” a senior NRM official familiar with the planning team said.
Todwong, however, downplayed any political tension surrounding the change, insisting that the NRM campaign machinery remains intact. He said the party’s message has already penetrated deeply across the country, especially through the new decentralized campaign structures led by district chairpersons and grassroots task forces.
“Our campaigns are progressing very well, the support is massive and exciting,” Todwong said. He emphasized that NRM’s focus is on organizational discipline, coordination, and results rather than mere crowd size.
He also revealed that the NRM Central Executive Committee (CEC) recently resolved to standardize campaign branding by requiring all candidates to include the official presidential portrait on their posters, describing it as a symbol of unity and recognition under the Movement.
On internal cohesion, Todwong admitted that a few aspirants who lost in the primaries were still hesitant to support flag bearers but noted that most had reconciled and accepted that “the party is bigger than individuals.”
“Crowd politics is entertainment — the real substance will be seen on voting day,” he added, stressing that the President’s campaign resumption in Oyam and Pakwach will reaffirm the NRM’s dominance in northern Uganda.
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