The unveiling of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) Central Executive Committee (CEC) portrait at Kololo Independence Grounds on August 28, 2025, was more than a photo opportunity. It was a historic marker of generational turnover in Uganda’s ruling party. With President Yoweri Museveni, Al-Hajji Moses Kigongo and Tom Butime the only survivors from the old guard, the portrait symbolizes a deliberate break with the past. Yet, it also raises uneasy questions: is the NRM genuinely embracing renewal, or has money finally become the party’s only ideology?
On the surface, the changes reflect a bold pivot to fresh blood. The entry of leaders like Speaker of Parliament Anita Among, who trounced Rebecca Kadaga for Second National Vice Chairperson (Female), embodies the theme of “new energy” and grassroots mobilization. Among herself framed her victory as generational, arguing that the party must appeal to Uganda’s youthful population through modern methods of engagement. Similarly, new regional vice chairpersons such as David Calvin Echodu (Eastern), Denis Hamson Obua (Northern), Haruna Kasolo (Buganda), Jonard Asiimwe (Western), Salim Uhuru (Kampala), and Lokii John Baptist (Karamoja) underscore a wholesale renewal. The veterans who once anchored the CEC—like Mukula, Kadaga, and Jim Muhwezi—are gone. Only President Museveni and his long time vice chairman, Al Hajj Kigongo remain, perched at the center of the portrait like guardians of continuity.
For optimists, this turnover is exactly what the NRM needs. The party, after nearly 40 years in power, is haunted by accusations of stagnation and disconnection from the grassroots. Gen Museveni himself told delegates that the new CEC must tackle corruption, wealth creation, and cohesion—urgent tasks as the country gears up for the 2026 elections. A youthful, dynamic CEC could retool the NRM’s image, revive its mass organization roots, and connect better with disillusioned voters.
This is why analysts describe the overhaul as a “transition strategy,” positioning Museveni to oversee a generational shift while keeping one hand firmly on the steering wheel.
But beneath the rhetoric of renewal lies a harsher reality. The very elections that produced this new CEC were marred by allegations of bribery, fake delegates, and open commercialization of politics. Reports from the conference detail cases of vote buying, with some special interest group polls even suspended due to irregularities. Hon Kadaga who was defeated decisively herself lamented the corrosive effect of money on internal democracy, echoing fears that the NRM is drifting into a “marketplace politics” where the highest bidder secures victory.
Analysts warn this trajectory risks hollowing out the party’s ideological foundations of anti-sectarianism and pan-Africanism, replacing them with transactional politics.
This is the double-edged symbolism of the Kololo portrait. On one hand, it represents fresh ideas, a new mobilization drive, and a carefully managed transition under Museveni’s watchful eye. On the other, it risks becoming a façade masking the entrenchment of monetized politics and elite capture. If unchecked, the new CEC could accelerate the erosion of the NRM’s credibility, fuel opposition narratives, and undermine Uganda’s democratic fabric.
For Gen Museveni, the challenge is clear. Renewal cannot just be about swapping old faces for new; it must mean restoring discipline, curbing corruption, and reconnecting with the citizenry. Otherwise, the portrait that today stands as a symbol of transition could, in hindsight, become the epitaph of the NRM’s ideological soul.
Uganda heads toward 2026 with a ruling party at a crossroads. The new CEC can either reawaken the NRM’s founding spirit or reduce it to a shell dominated by wealth and coercion. The choice is theirs—and the verdict will be delivered not at Kololo, but at the ballot box.
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