President Yoweri Museveni, is expected to pick up nomination forms for the position of National Resistance Movement (NRM) party chairperson and presidential flag bearer on Saturday, June 28th, 2025.
According to Dr. Tanga Odoi, Chairperson of the NRM Electoral Commission, Museveni will collect the expression of interest forms from the party’s Electoral Commission headquarters in Kampala.
Museveni, who has led the NRM since its founding, is seeking to retain his position as party chairperson and a member of the Central Executive Committee (CEC), as well as to once again carry the party’s presidential flag in the upcoming elections. This move follows the Kyobe Resolution adopted by the NRM’s Central Executive Committee and parliamentary caucus in 2019.
In that resolution, party members unanimously endorsed President Museveni as the sole candidate for the 2021 elections and beyond, citing his historical leadership, experience, and vision for the country. Dr. Odoi further noted that all aspirants for positions on the CEC, which is the apex committee of the NRM, will undergo formal nomination on July 4th, 2025.
However, expression of interest for all aspirants seeking CEC positions will begin on June 26th, 2025. The NRM CEC members have ring-fenced this position for Museveni despite the fact that other party members are interested in the opposition and opposed to his leadership. Some of these members, previously dubbed rebel MPs, have challenged Museveni’s sole candidature in the Constitutional Court, albeit without success.
If nominated and elected (as widely expected), Mr Museveni, who will turn 81 in September this year, will be in his seventh successive term as president and party leader, extending a tenure that has lasted nearly four decades since coming into power in 1986.
Security agencies have frequently come under fire for human rights violations, including alleged abductions and torture of opposition supporters. These incidents have sparked domestic and international concern, especially ahead of yet another high-stakes election.
One of the main challengers expected to face Mr Museveni again in 2026 is opposition leader and pop star-turned-politician Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, who is also expected to carry the National Unity Platform (NUP) flag to run for president for a second time.
Mr Kyagulanyi has consistently accused Mr Museveni’s regime of using state security forces to harass and torture political opponents. In the 2021 election, the Electoral Commission declared Mr Museveni the winner with 58.64% of the vote, against Kyagulanyi’s 34.83%, with a voter turnout of 52%.
At the time, Museveni, then aged 76, based his campaign on experience and stability, while Kyagulanyi, 38, galvanized young voters with promises of democratic reform and an end to corruption.
Dr Tanga also revealed that aspirants vying for top positions on the Central Executive Committee (CEC) will be nominated on July 4.
