How money politics is tearing NRM apart

When the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) held elections for its Central Region Central Executive Committee (CEC) seat last August, the vote was meant to be an internal affair, routine, procedural, a chance for cadres to choose a representative.

Instead, it turned into one of the most contentious contests in the party’s recent history, marked by money-fueled campaigns, bitter ethnic accusations and competing claims of rigging.

At the center of the storm stand two men: Haruna Kyeyune Kasolo, minister of state for Microfinance, and Moses Kalangwa, a wealthy businessman. The official results gave Kasolo a narrow win, 4,194 votes to Kalangwa’s 3,981.

But Kalangwa rejected the outcome, alleging vote-buying, irregularities, and a conspiracy to edge him out.

“This was not a free and fair contest,” he told reporters, demanding a fresh election and later petitioning the NRM tribunal. Perhaps the most explosive claim came not from the candidates but from Aaron Turahi, LC V chairman of the western district of Isingiro.

Speaking on Radio West, Turahi described an election awash in cash handouts. According to him, Kalangwa gave delegates Shs 300,000 each. Hours later, Kasolo invited them to a Kampala restaurant and handed out Shs 500,000 apiece.

When Ka- langwa learned of this, he allegedly called delegates back and doubled his own payout to Shs 1 million each. In total, some delegates reportedly pocketed Shs 1.3 million from Kalangwa alone.

“How can aspirants give more money than the official per diem provided by the party?” Turahi asked, capturing the disbelief many NRM supporters expressed privately.

The race was also marred by sectarian whispers. Some opponents raised questions about Kalangwa’s alleged Rwandan origins, an attack that touched on long-standing tensions in Buganda. President Yoweri Museveni publicly dismissed the claims.

“There was talk of Kalangwa having come from Rwanda originally. This is not correct,” Museveni said.

“Kalangwa is one of the most active NRM cadres, and Buganda is a multi-cultural unit. Even if the population in Buganda was mainly Baganda, you should look for capacity and dedication.”

Still, Museveni did not entirely shield Kalangwa. He pointed to a signed letter from Kayunga accusing him of land grabbing, an allegation that has dogged the businessman for years. The NRM’s electoral commission declared Kasolo the winner, but Kalangwa insists the tally was manipulated. At the party tribunal, he presented what he claimed were “true results,” showing him with 3,980 votes against Kasolo’s 3,100.

Kasolo countered that Kalangwa offered no evidence. The businessman eventually stormed out of the tribunal, calling on Museveni himself to intervene. The slim margin and fierce accusations left party members unsettled.

For a seat that is largely advisory and unpaid for, the level of contention raised questions about what is truly at stake in NRM’s internal politics.

Senior Figures Decry Bribery

The outcry was not confined to the losing camp. Senior party figures, among them Rebecca Kadaga, Chris Baryomunsi, Capt Mike Mukula, and Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa publicly condemned the rampant vote-buying.

“This is alarming and a dangerous path for the party,” Mukula said.

Kadaga went further, telling delegates: “For the first time, we have seen the distri- bution of iPads, cellphones and money in millions to entice voters. This, Your Excellency, is ruining our party.” Tayebwa questioned the rationale of spending billions of shillings on what is essentially a volunteer role.

“Why should it be a matter of life and death to sit in CEC?” he asked.

Their words underscored a sense that the party’s internal elections had crossed a line, with bribery no longer whispered about but openly acknowledged. After the storm, Kasolo moved quickly to consolidate.

He convened a post-election meeting in Buganda, bringing together party flag bearers and defeated aspirants in an effort to heal wounds and prepare for the next general election. Backed by Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka and the NRM Secretariat, Kasolo urged rivals to close ranks against the National Unity Platform (NUP), which dominated Buganda in 2021.

The strategy appeared to work. More than half of disgruntled aspirants who had threatened to run as independents agreed to withdraw, improving the NRM’s chances of reclaiming ground.

The party now hopes to win 80 of Buganda’s 105 parliamentary seats, up from the 53 taken by NUP last time. The Central Region CEC contest revealed more than a rivalry between Kasolo and Kalangwa.

It exposed the corrosive role of money in party politics, the fragility of internal democracy, and how ethnic tensions still lurk beneath Uganda’s political surface. For a party that has ruled Uganda for nearly four decades, the stakes go far beyond one seat on a committee.

The question is whether the NRM can discipline itself, curb the influence of money, and maintain credibility among its own ranks—or whether the battles of Buziga and Buganda will foreshadow deeper fractures in the years ahead.

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