Kampala, Uganda: President Yoweri Museveni has endorsed billionaire businessman and education investor Al Hajj Hassan Basajjabalaba as the unopposed Chairperson of the NRM Entrepreneurs League (2025–2031), following a dialogue with the candidates in the suspended league polls.
In a brief statement issued on Saturday, August 30, 2025, Museveni, in his capacity as the National Chairman of NRM, said the party had reached consensus on Basajjabalaba’s candidature after consultations with other aspirants.
“I have met with the candidates for the position of NRM Chairperson of the Entrepreneurs League. They have agreed to unconditionally endorse Al Hajj Hassan Basajjabalaba, who is now unopposed,” Mr Museveni wrote in a post via X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday evening.
The President thanked Deputy Speaker, Rt Hon Thomas Tayebwa, for bringing these factions together and thanked all the aspirants for their foresight. “As I often say, it is not just about who is in the position, but what can be achieved. I congratulate Al Hajji Basajjabalaba and commend the other candidates for their selfless act.”
Relatedly, in a letter dated August 30, 2025, addressed to the NRM Electoral Commission, led by Dr. Tanga Odoi, and delegates of the Entrepreneurs League, (which President Museveni attached to his post), the candidates, including; Hon. Sanjay Tanna, Mr. Philip Kakuru, and H.E. King Ceasor Mulenga, agreed in unison to rally their full support for Basajjabalaba after a dialogue with the President facilitated by Hon Tayebwa.
“Following a dialogue initiated by H.E. Yoweri K. Museveni, Chairman of the NRM, and facilitated by Rt. Hon. Thomas Tayebwa, Deputy Speaker of Parliament, we, the undersigned candidates for the position of Chairperson of the NRM Entrepreneurs League, and after meeting our party Chairman on this day, August 30, 2025, at State Lodge Nakasero; we have unconditionally endorsed Al Hajj Hassan Basajjabalaba as the unopposed Chairperson of the NRM Entrepreneurs League for the period 2025–2031,” the letter reads in part.
“We have done this in the spirit of party unity and cohesion as emphasized by our party chairman,” it added.
Hon Tayebwa later thanked the President for his guidance and congratulated Al Hajj Basajjabalaba, saying; “Thank you, Mzee, for the fatherly guidance to the candidates. Indeed, solving internal issues amicably makes us stronger as a party. Congratulations Hajji Basajjabalaba.”
The dramatic endorsement of Basajjabalaba comes just days after President Museveni suspended the Entrepreneurs League elections until further notice after chaos erupted at Kololo over allegations of electoral irregularities.
Basajjabalaba, who chairs the HABA Group and owns Kampala International University, among other business ventures, now takes charge of the influential Entrepreneurs League as part of the NRM’s Central Executive Committee (CEC), placing him in a strategic position within the party’s top decision-making organ.
(daily express)