By KT Reporter
The National Peasants Party (NPP) has accused the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) of using state resources to gain an unfair advantage ahead of the 2026 presidential elections.
NPP Secretary General Sheriff Ssentongo Nambale told URN that opposition candidates are struggling to fund their campaign activities while the government is using taxpayers’ money to fund Museveni’s campaigns.
“We see the government under President Yoweri Museveni freely using public resources, yet opposition candidates can barely sustain their campaign teams,” Nambale said.
He argued that after paying the UGX 20 million nomination fee, candidates receive only a vehicle and police protection from the Electoral Commission (EC), but must personally cover accommodation, feeding, and other campaign expenses for security officers and staff. Nambale further accused the NRM of using government vehicles, distributing campaign materials, and transporting supporters in police trucks.
He said he raised these concerns during a December 3 meeting with the EC and Police. According to him, Police Operations Commander ACP Frank Mwesigwa defended the transportation of supporters, saying officers have relatives with varied political affiliations.
Kira Municipality MP and Shadow Finance Minister Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda reinforced the claims, saying the government recently pushed through a UGX 459 billion supplementary budget under State House, allegedly disguising funds for Museveni’s nationwide youth mobilization tours as “classified expenditure.”
“The NRM candidate wants money for mobilising youth, they call them ‘Youth Tours’,” Ssemujju told URN.
“The country is being asked to fund political panic within the young generation that is no longer supporting the President.”
He also accused the Budget Committee of flouting Parliament’s own Rules of Procedure, particularly Rule 2(1), (3) and (4), which require at least 48 hours’ notice before committee meetings.
“I was called barely 10 hours before plenary,” he said. “The rules assume MPs conduct serious business, not that we gather to rubber-stamp the Executive’s excesses.”
But State Minister for Finance Henry Musasizi described Ssemujju’s assertions as “pure blackmail.”
“This programme existed before campaigns,” he argued. “It is part of remodelling the Youth Livelihood Programme under the State House. To claim that money is being channelled into NRM mobilization is simply not true. Every allocation is tied to a work plan.”
Musasizi further defended the expenditure by citing the Fourth National Development Plan (NDP IV), which prioritizes human capital development for youth employment, skills enhancement, and formal sector integration.
However, Leader of Opposition Joel Ssenyonyi dismissed the justification, calling the allocations “highly suspicious.”
“If this money was for planned activities, why was it not included in the national budget?” Ssenyonyi asked. “Supplementary budgets must arise from unforeseen circumstances. How does mobilising youth become an emergency worth UGX 300 billion?”
Tororo North MP Godfrey Ekanya accused the government of deliberately suffocating opposition parties financially.
He cited the UGX 2 billion meant for the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) under the Inter-Party Organisation for Dialogue (IPOD), which he says has been withheld “even after repeated requisitions.”
Speaker Anita Among, who also serves as NRM’s Second National Vice Chairperson, denied claims that the UGX 8.1 trillion supplementary budget passed by Parliament was intended to bankroll the ruling party’s 2026 campaigns. “This House does not finance political parties,” she said.
“The allegations are unfounded.”
EC spokesperson Julius Musinguzi reminded parties that the Commission is not mandated to finance presidential campaigns. “Since the amendment of the Political Parties and Organisations Act before the 2016 elections, presidential candidates no longer receive state facilitation,” Musinguzi explained. “If political parties want this restored, they should push for an amendment.”
He noted that before 2016, each presidential candidate received UGX 20 million and two government vehicles, a practice scrapped as part of reforms to separate party financing from state resources.
NPP’s Nambale insisted that despite the financial strain, the opposition remains determined. “This regime abuses the consolidated fund with impunity,” he said. “But Ugandans have seen enough. We are determined to dislodge it.”
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