Iganga, Uganda: President Yoweri Museveni was forced to personally intervene after senior National Resistance Movement (NRM) leaders Rebecca Kadaga and Persis Namuganza skipped a crucial Busoga leaders’ meeting he convened in Iganga, raising fresh questions about deepening divisions within the ruling party in the sub-region.
Kadaga, the First Deputy Prime Minister and Kamuli Woman MP, together with her rival-turned friend, Hon Persis Namuganza, Who is also Bukono Constituency MP and State Minister for Lands, were conspicuously absent from the Saturday, January 10, 2026, meeting at Iganga Secondary School in Bulamagi Sub-county, where Museveni was addressing NRM flag bearers ahead of the January 15 elections.
Their absence unsettled senior party leaders, prompting Museveni, who is also the NRM national chairman, to telephone both leaders as he attempted to mediate growing internal rifts.
Addressing the meeting, Museveni blamed persistent infighting among Busoga leaders for slowing development and trapping communities in chronic poverty.
“Because of the divisions in Busoga, even Hon. Namuganza is not here, yet she was the one who recommended that this meeting be organised in Iganga. But this infighting is holding back the people from coming out of poverty,” Museveni said.
The President revealed that he personally contacted Kadaga after learning she had skipped the function. “I called my young sister Kadaga and asked her if she was coming to Iganga. She told me she was not invited,” Museveni told the meeting.
He said he then contacted Anita Annet Among, who informed him that all NRM flag bearers had been invited.
When Museveni followed up with Kadaga, he said she questioned how the invitation had been issued. “She asked me, ‘Did those people invite me on radio or what?’ That shows the confusion caused by lack of unity,” Museveni said.
The President warned that leadership conflicts mainly punish ordinary citizens rather than political elites. “The most suffering people are the poor. When leaders are fighting, they are in cars and good houses, but the poor suffer. Someone can even die because of poverty,” Museveni said.
Calling for humility and cooperation, Museveni said internal power struggles were undermining development programmes meant to uplift the region. “I ask you to be humble. If I was not humble, I would not have managed Uganda. Leaders must work together so that our people can come out of poverty,” he added.
Busoga remains one of Uganda’s poorest sub-regions. According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics Household Survey 2023/24, about 840,700 people in Busoga live below the absolute poverty line, translating to a poverty rate of 18.9 percent and accounting for 12 percent of all poor Ugandans.
The region has in recent years been rocked by recurring political feuds, particularly involving Kadaga, Namuganza and Speaker Among, whose husband is Budiope East MP Moses Magogo. The disputes reportedly revolve around influence, event coordination and control of party structures, often resulting in key leaders skipping official engagements.
Political observers say the infighting has steadily weakened NRM support in Busoga, one of the few regions where Museveni lost the presidential vote in 2021.
In that election, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu of the National Unity Platform secured 437,059 votes in Busoga against Museveni’s 404,862, marking a historic shift in the region’s voting pattern.
Tensions were further inflamed during the recent NRM Central Executive Committee elections for the female vice chairperson slot, which split Busoga leaders between camps backing Kadaga and Among. Among eventually won the position, replacing Kadaga, who had held the role for decades.
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