NAIROBI, Kenya – Uganda’s ruling party, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) of President Yoweri Museveni, has led a delegation to Nairobi, Kenya, in efforts to strengthen its relationship with the United Democratic Alliance (UDA).
NRM is seeking to solidify its support ahead of the January 12, 2026, general election, in which the incumbent is likely to seek another term in office.
On the morning of Thursday, May 9, 2025, NRM party secretary general Richard Todwong held talks with his UDA counterpart, Hassan Omar, at the party headquarters, Hustler Plaza.
In a statement, UDA indicated that the two secretaries general discussed issues of mutual interest between the two political outfits, including training of a batch of 100 members of the UDA Party to be undertaken at Uganda’s National Leadership Institute – Kyankwanzi in Jinja.
Todwong, who arrived in Nairobi on Thursday evening for a 3-day official tour hosted by UDA’s party, was flanked by NRM Director of External Affairs Major (Rtd) Awich Pollar Awich and National Leadership Institute’s Col. Okei Rukogota.
Why the Nairobi UDA and NRM engagements should be embraced
Present at the meeting were UDA Deputy Secretary General Omboko Milemba, National Treasurer Japheth Nyakundi, Deputy Executive Director Brian Mbugua, Directors Daniel Kiptoo, Rob Jillo, Grace Gicovi, Nathaniel Mong’are, Margaret Ndanyi, Sam Mwangi, Omulo Junior, and Joseph Mulili, among others.
When reached for comment, Kamukama Fredie, a member of NRM, told Y News that NRM engaging UDA is not ‘something new.’
“As members of the East Africa Community (EAC), this is something that we should be happy about since we are all brothers and sisters,” said Kamukama.
Kamukama further indicated that the two parties share some themes in their political outfits.
“For instance, UDA took some colours from NRM, like yellow. There was a time when President Museveni, while campaigning, used a bicycle (boda boda) as his party symbol, the same way UDA is using a wheelbarrow. And to add to it, even the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU) also uses the yellow colours,” explained Kamukama.
Why the engagements between the NRM and UDA are important
Kamukama, who is also a member of PLU, a political party affiliated with Uganda’s first son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, said the ongoing engagements in Nairobi are focused on strengthening party-to-party relations, enhancing mutual understanding, and exploring areas of collaboration between Kenya and Uganda.
“These two parties have come together with a view of ensuring how best they can work together and how they can address their challenges, but most importantly, they will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on areas of collaboration,” he explained.
Kamukama, a close ally of Muhoozi, Uganda’s Chief of Defence Forces (UPDF) and SPA/SO, said the Nairobi meetings will also provide an opportunity for the NRM delegation to present its vision for Uganda ahead of the forthcoming polls.
“Our people would wish to know how far President William Ruto has gone with his manifesto for the few years he has been in office. Since he was a one-man army in the 2022 presidential race, we would be interested to know how he sailed through and won the elections,” he added.
He further claimed that NRM was still popular in Uganda because of programs such as the Parish Development Model (PDM), a government-led initiative aimed at transforming subsistence households into the money economy and lifting 17.5 million Ugandans in 3.5 million households out of poverty.
“I have been accompanying President Museveni to most parts of Uganda, and I can assure you that this PDM strategy is fast improving service delivery and alleviating poverty at the grassroots level,” added Mukama.
What does the Ugandan opposition think about the NRM party
But in a quick rejoinder, Kira Municipality MP Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda poured cold water on Mukama’s assertions, maintaining that evaluating NRM’s track record can only happen after they have left power.
Y News understands that Ssemujju, a vocal lawmaker in the Ugandan Parliament, is a prominent figure in the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) Katonga faction.
“State parties will always be big because you have all the state, including the Cabinet and Parliament, deployed behind you. Even Milton Obote’s Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) was like the present NRM, but after Obote was toppled from power, UPC is now predominantly in only one sub-region of Uganda, which is Kyazanga, where I come from,” explained Ssemujju.
Meanwhile, Kamukama stated that NRM was impressed by how UDA was attracting like-minded political parties like the now-defunct Amani National Congress (ANC) that folded and joined the ruling political outfit.
“I can confidently say that Kenya plays more mature politics than Uganda and, to some extent, some countries in the region, and this is the reason we want to learn from parties like UDA for our betterment moving forward,” explained Mukama.
