The President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, is expected to pick up nomination forms for the position of National Resistance Movement (NRM) party chairperson and presidential flag bearer on Saturday, June 28th, 2025.
According to Dr. Tanga Odoi, Chairperson of the NRM Electoral Commission, Museveni will collect the expression of interest forms from the party’s Electoral Commission headquarters in Kampala.
Museveni, who has led the NRM since its founding, is seeking to retain his position as Party Chairperson and a member of the Central Executive Committee (CEC), as well as to once again carry the party’s presidential flag in the upcoming elections. This move follows the Kyobe Resolution adopted by the NRM’s Central Executive Committee and parliamentary caucus in 2019.
In that resolution, party members unanimously endorsed President Museveni as the sole candidate for the 2021 elections and beyond, citing his historical leadership, experience, and vision for the country. Dr. Odoi further noted that all aspirants for positions on the CEC, which is the apex committee of the NRM, will undergo formal nomination on July 4th, 2025.
However, expression of interest for all aspirants seeking CEC positions will begin on June 26th, 2025. The NRM CEC members have ring-fenced this position for Museveni despite the fact that other party members are interested in the position and opposed to his leadership. Some of these members, previously dubbed rebel MPs, have challenged Museveni’s sole candidature in the Constitutional Court, albeit without success.
Last week, there was drama at the Commission offices when a 36-year-old man, Julius Tumuhimbise from Busenyi, showed up demanding to pick nomination forms to contest for the presidency on the NRM party ticket. However, he was swiftly turned away by Commission officials who told him the party had not yet opened the process for expression of interest in the presidential position.
Tumuhimbise claimed he had every right as a party member to vie for the top seat. Retired Major General Frederick Ociti Tolit, the former Chairperson of the General Court Martial, has been nominated to contest the Chua East Constituency seat in Kitgum District. Tolit explained that after he retired from the army in 2024, he returned to find his home area lacking effective leadership and facing widespread challenges.
He observed that the constituency is still suffering from the effects of past conflict, including high levels of poverty, limited access to education, insecurity due to Karamojong raids, and attacks by wild animals from Kidepo National Park. Tolit also noted a significant breakdown in essential services, particularly access to clean water. Many boreholes, he said, have not been repaired, leaving communities to share water sources with animals.
He expressed a strong commitment to restoring government services that had previously been established in the area, saying poor leadership had allowed them to deteriorate. Tolit warned that failure to address these issues urgently could result in further instability, with the risk of the community sliding back into conflict, which would be appalling to them.
Charles Nsereko has been nominated for Nakaseke South Constituency, and Noeline Basemera Kisembo has been nominated for Kibale District Woman MP, where she seeks to maintain her seat as the incumbent. Nominations for those vying for Parliamentary, District, and City Mayoral flag bearers for NRM are still ongoing. The exercise will close on June 30th, 2025, with elections scheduled for July 16th, 2025.
 party chairperson and presidential flag bearer on Saturday, June 28th, 2025. ){kind=link}