By KT Reporter
The National Peasants Party (NPP) says its presidential campaign has reached most of the targeted areas as scheduled, although many challenges have slowed its progress. NPP presidential candidate Robert Kasibante is among the eight candidates contesting for the presidency in the January 2026 elections, now less than a month away.
Kasibante, like some other opposition candidates, has at times been absent from scheduled campaign stops. The party attributes this to poor transport infrastructure and limited logistical capacity.
According to NPP Secretary General Sharif Ssentongo Nambale, bad roads between campaign venues often cause delays, with the team sometimes arriving after the legally permitted campaign time has elapsed, forcing them to cancel activities.
Ssentongo said these challenges affect all opposition candidates, but are compounded by the fact that they are competing against an incumbent president with access to state resources, which he described as an unfair advantage.
According to the campaign schedule, Kasibante is expected to campaign in the Bunyoro sub-region this week. Ssentongo said the party has been holding meetings with campaign agents as required by electoral laws and hopes to resume full campaign activities in the region on Thursday.
He added that the party remains optimistic about covering most parts of the country before the campaign period ends. Ssentongo also condemned what he described as brutality by security agencies against NPP supporters and agents, saying the campaign team has had confrontations with operatives, which have further affected the pace of the campaign.
Despite the setbacks, the Secretary General expressed confidence that the party will cover a significant portion of the country, with support from members and sympathizers who are mobilizing resources to sustain the campaign.
He noted that even if NPP does not win outright, one of its key objectives is to ensure that President Yoweri Museveni, the NRM candidate, does not secure the constitutionally required 50 percent plus one vote to win in the first round.
According to Ssentongo, this would allow opposition candidates to unite in a second round against the incumbent.
Ssentongo further urged the Electoral Commission not to distort electoral laws, particularly on polling day. He emphasized that voters have a legal right to remain at the polling station at least 20 metres away to witness vote counting and declaration of results.
He said discouraging voters from staying near polling stations after voting amounts to intimidation and disenfranchisement. The party has therefore adopted a new slogan: “Cast it, stay there, come what may.
Robert Kasibante echoed the message, urging Ugandans to abandon fear and actively defend their democratic rights. “Ugandans should not be intimidated by the state. Your vote is your power, and protecting it is your right. Stand firm, stay alert, and make your voice count.
No threats, no fear. Uganda belongs to all of us—Kalonde, Tovaawo, Ekijja Kijje,” Kasibante said. The party, which is participating in national elections for the first time, faced an early test following controversy involving its former party president, Stecia Mayanja.
Mayanja appeared performing at President Museveni’s campaign launch on September 23, just a day after Kasibante had been officially cleared by the Electoral Commission as NPP’s presidential candidate. Mayanja was subsequently dismissed from the party after failing to satisfactorily explain her actions to the NPP disciplinary committee.
Earlier this week, she was formally introduced as a member of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) by Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja at a campaign rally in Kakumiro District.
Both Ssentongo and Kasibante described Mayanja as an opportunist and said her departure has helped clarify the party’s position.
“I wish to speak clearly and without ambiguity: Stecia Mayanja is no longer a member of the NPP. She made a personal political decision, and with that choice, her chapter in NPP ended months ago when she resigned,” Kasibante said. “NPP is not a transit camp for opportunists, nor a shelter for political convenience. Ours is a movement built on conviction, discipline, and sacrifice. Anyone unable to bear that responsibility is free to step aside. We are building a new Uganda, not reheating yesterday’s failures. NPP is focused, united, and unstoppable,” he added.
Ssentongo said the party is relieved that the public can no longer mistakenly associate Mayanja with NPP following her public unveiling at an NRM rally.
Mayanja has not publicly clarified her current relationship with NPP. However, in response to criticism over her performance at the NRM rally at Kololo—which triggered disciplinary action—she said that as a professional entertainer, she is free to perform wherever she is contracted.
Through her lawyers, Lunar Advocates, Mayanja argued that she did not violate party regulations, stating that she was registered in NPP as an individual member, not in her professional capacity as an entertainer.
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