Elected National Resistance Movement (NRM) youth leaders have written to President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, raising serious concerns over alleged fraud and manipulation in the ongoing NRM youth elections.
In a strongly worded petition dated August 26, 2025, the youth leaders accused Museveni’s brother, Michael Nuwagira Kaguta, popularly known as “Toyota,” of interfering in the elections by imposing candidates, using illicit money to influence voters, and undermining internal democracy.
“Your brother Mr. Toyota has completely disorganized our youth with money he gets from ‘trading gold,’ and this is killing internal democracy,” the petition reads. “He has brought us candidates and tells the youth that these are the state candidates. If old men use your name and start disorganizing the youth, then the party is going to the dogs.”
The petitioners alleged that Toyota, in coordination with certain security officials and the NRM Secretariat, is promoting specific candidates among them, Mercy Katwesigye and Elizabeth Kakwanzi, for the positions of National Female Youth MP and Western Youth MP, despite them lacking genuine popular support. They further accused the group of manipulating the accreditation process, sidelining genuine delegates, and inflating registers with fake names.
“They gave tags to people from Makerere University who are not part of the NRM Youth Electoral College, while genuine members were denied accreditation cards. Over 200 fake names have been added to the NRM register,” the letter stated. “Most real delegates were not given accreditation cards, yet many fake delegates already have them. This completely kills democracy, and all this is done in your name, with the Secretariat just implementing.”
The youth leaders also expressed concern about attempts to alter voting procedures contrary to what was agreed upon by the Central Executive Committee (CEC).
“In CEC last week, it was agreed that voting should be by lining and that national IDs should be used. However, these people want to use fake tags and registers, and even plan to conduct voting at night so they can steal votes,” the petition added. “If they fail to steal because the youth are vigilant, they want to postpone the election under the excuse of violence.”
The letter further noted that the continuous postponement of elections was financially draining for candidates, many of whom had already incurred substantial expenses. It pointed out that no allowances were provided by the Secretariat for extended days, adding to the frustrations.
The youth leaders also warned that some security officers had openly taken sides, intimidating delegates. They called on President Museveni to intervene urgently, proposing practical measures to restore credibility in the election process.
They requested that voting be conducted openly at the district level, with registrars reading names in public and national IDs used for verification against credible registers such as those of the Internal Security Organization (ISO). They also called for the immediate declaration of results after voting to avoid manipulation.
“Toyota and his group, including Emma of ‘Gold,’ should leave youth politics,” the petition concluded, appealing directly to the President for swift action.
Copies of the petition were also sent to the NRM Vice Chairman, the Minister for the Presidency, the NRM Secretary General, the NRM Electoral Commission, the Central Executive Committee, and the party’s Finance and Security heads.
The NRM Secretariat is yet to issue an official response to the explosive allegations, but the petition underscores deepening tensions within the ruling party’s youth structures as disputes over transparency, fairness, and internal democracy take center stage.
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