H.E THE PRESIDENT’S STATEMENT ON NRM’S IDEOLOGICAL AND STRATEGIC ISSUES
Fellow Ugandans and especially the Bazzukulu. Greetings.
Congratulations to the NRM fraternity following the near conclusion of the massive exercise we started on the 6th of May, 2025, when we held village conferences to cross check the accuracy of our membership registers. In my village of Rwakyitura, on the register we originally had 350 members.
However, when we audited those who had migrated, died, etc., we remained with, I think, 251. It was so beautiful. In the end, in the whole Country, we had more than 20 million members of whom 18.5million were of the voting age of 18 years.
The exercise of electing delegates continued, climaxing into the recent 2 conferences in Kololo. Ugandans addicted to customs, always refer to those conferences as Namboole even when they are held in Kololo because the previous ones were held in Namboole. Only the Youth are remaining.
During these meetings, some issues that I consider ideological, strategic and organizational came up. Today, I will only talk about the ideological and strategic issues. The NRM ideology is based on the four principles of patriotism (love Uganda); Pan-Africanism (love Africa); socio-economic transformation and democracy.
Why love Uganda, why love Africa and why not only love your tribe or religious sect? It is because you need them for your prosperity and strategic security, as market and defence potential. In other words, the NRM politics has been politics of interests rather than the politics of identity (religion or tribes). If you believe in these principles, you are welcome to join the NRM whenever you are ready.
During the NEC conference, the NRM old debate about the equality of members- old and new- came up again. Rt. Hon. Rebecca Kadaga brought up the issue of longevity of membership in the NRM. We had actually addressed this issue long ago. I asked the lawyers to check whether there was minimum time required to qualify for this or that office. Their answer was that there was no such guideline.
However, even if there was such a provision in the guidelines, it would have been mistaken. The way I explained this many years ago, was to remember my old Scripture Union days of 1961-1966. My memory brought out the parable of the work-men in the Book of Matthew chapter 20 verses 1-16. It says:
For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard. 2. Now, when he had agreed with the labourers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3. And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. 4. And said to them, “you also go into the vineyard and whatever is right, I will give you”, so they went. 5. Again, he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour and did likewise. 6. And about the eleven hour, he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, “Why have you been standing here idle the whole day?” 7. They said to him, “Because no one hired us.” He said to them, “You also go into the vineyard and whatever is right you will receive.”
8.So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, “Call the labourers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.” 9. And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. 10. But when the first came they supposed that they would receive more, and they likewise received each a denarius. 11. And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner 12. Saying, “These last men here worked only one hour and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.” 13. But he answered one of them and said, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14. Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. 15. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your aye evil because I am good?” 16. “So the last will be first and the first last. For many are called but few are chosen.”
My memory keeps bringing back the words: “In the Kingdom of God there is no young there is no old.” Where did I pick that from? In politics in the vineyard owner are the People that choose from among the People contesting.
Strategically, it would be insulting and repulsive to have two types of members: the old and the new. How can you treat People who come to re-inforce you as if they are squatters? This was the mistake of DP in 1980. On account of the mistakes of Obote eversince 1962, by 1980, the former members of Kabaka Yekka (a sworn enemy of DP in 1961-62), UPC-Ibingira- Nadiope faction, etc., joined DP to block Obote’s return. This accounted for about 80% of the political opinion in Uganda at that time.
Unfortunately, on account of opportunism, talk of the Nansangwawo and the abakajja started. Of course, the whole miscalculation of pushing for DP without Fronasa caught up with the DP miscalculators and misplanners. UPC made their coup, and we had to use the hard route of armed resistance while maintaining the UNLF would have served everybody.
Going back to the Bible: St. Paul was a sworn enemy of the Church. However, when God “politicized” (siasa) him on the road to Damascus, he became the greatest promoter of the new faith, even more than the 11 disciples of Jesus (Peter, John, etc., etc.).
If the senior members of the NRM prioritize the Kukyenuura of the People (solving the People’s problems using the Government programmes of PDM, Emyooga, etc.), there is no way the newcomers can outshine them.
It is very dangerous for the original members of a political organization to discriminate (kusosola) or Okweshaanya (to resent) the new members. You want examples? Yoweri Museveni, General of the National Resistance. I was a DP member between 1960 and 1970. In 1970, I walked to the UPC office, off Entebbe Road, to the left. Otim Oryem, the UPC Administrative Secretary gave me the UPC cards that I took and distributed in the Kiruhuura-Rubiindi-Kazo-Ibaanda area, that had been a DP stronghold represented in Parliament by Mzee Byanyima and Bataringaya.
Oyorora zoona, tomanya erahiigye (when the puppies are young, you feed all of them equally because you do not know which of them will be a better hunting dog). One could, therefore, have excused the UPC leaders for not taking advantage of my joining them to strengthen their party because I was just one of the young People. However, their mistake is that even by that time, age 25, I had already mobilized (1967-1970) the People in the cattle corridor to stop nomadism, started USARF (University Students African Revolutionary Front) mobilizing the University Students of the whole of East Africa, led a student delegation into the liberated area of Mozambique (1968)- all on our own initiative as students, using our own scarce resources.
Why would a clever planner miss seeing the usefulness of such activists? How much could we have achieved if all of us- Obote, Kiwanuka, Muteesa and the young People had worked together?
Therefore, fellow Ugandans, remember, in the Kingdom of Heaven, there is no young and there is no old. In Political Parties, all members should be equal.
Signed:
Yoweri K. Museveni
Ssaabalwanyi
Next time, I will talk about the organizational issues – including corruption.
