Uganda’s ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) has endorsed President Yoweri Museveni as its candidate for next year’s general election, clearing the way for his bid to extend nearly 40 years in power.
Museveni, 80, formally accepted the nomination on Wednesday at the party’s delegate conference in Kampala, thanking members for their continued confidence.
“When we came in, we knew exactly what to do, and that’s why the economy of Uganda has recovered. As I speak today, we have gone through five phases,” Museveni said, waving a party pamphlet detailing NRM’s achievements since he took power in 1986.
The veteran leader has been elected six times, aided by constitutional amendments that scrapped term limits and removed the presidential age cap. A win in the January 2026 polls would push his rule close to five decades.
Critics accuse Museveni of entrenching authoritarian rule, suppressing dissent, and weakening competition within the NRM. He, however, insists his leadership is legitimate, pointing to elections held every five years.
Museveni remains popular in rural areas, where many credit him with maintaining relative stability, even as discontent grows in urban centres.
His main challenger is expected to be Robert Kyagulanyi, widely known as Bobi Wine, the opposition leader and former pop star who lost to Museveni in 2021. Wine, 43, has warned that the political climate has worsened, citing threats to himself and activists pushing for change.
Another longtime rival, Kizza Besigye, remains in detention on treason charges his supporters describe as politically motivated, leaving Wine as the leading opposition figure in a race already marked by tension and allegations of repression.
The January election is shaping up as another high-stakes contest between Uganda’s long-serving incumbent and a growing opposition determined to end his decades-long grip on power.
