Namayanja urges NRM leaders to end internal divisions ahead of village elections

What the report says

Nile Post reports that National Resistance Movement Deputy Secretary General Rose Namayanja Nsenko has called on party leaders and supporters to put aside internal disputes before the forthcoming Local Council I chairperson and village women’s committee elections. Addressing NRM leaders from the Greater Masaka sub-region on Sunday, Namayanja said the ruling party’s main electoral risk comes from divisions within its ranks rather than from opposition parties.

According to the report, Namayanja linked some past NRM losses to members refusing to accept primary election outcomes and then backing independents, splitting the party vote. She said her visit to Masaka was part of a wider mobilisation effort to reinforce grassroots structures, assess local challenges and prepare the party for village-level polling.

The meeting also surfaced complaints from some NRM leaders about alleged mishandling of party flag allocations. They claimed certain candidates who had won primaries later lost endorsements to other individuals. Others raised concerns that Greater Masaka had not received fair consideration in parliamentary committee assignments despite returning a notable number of NRM MPs.

Namayanja responded by warning party officials against removing flags from candidates who were properly elected and endorsed, and urged members not to campaign for independents or rival party candidates over official NRM flag bearers. The issue matters because LC I and village women’s committee races form part of Uganda’s grassroots political structure, where party cohesion can influence local mobilisation and wider electoral strength.