Over 60 Independent MPs sign cooperation agreement to work with NRM

What the report says

More than 60 Independent Members of Parliament in Uganda have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the ruling National Resistance Movement, according to Watchdog Uganda. The agreement was signed on Thursday at the Office of the Government Chief Whip and is intended to create a formal framework for cooperation in Parliament.

Under the arrangement, the MPs will be able to attend NRM parliamentary caucus meetings, back government business, and work with the party on implementing its 2026–2031 manifesto. Watchdog Uganda reported that the signing was witnessed by NRM deputy secretary general Namayanja Rose Nsereko and national treasurer Barbara Nekesa Oudo, with legal guidance from NRM director of legal services Enoch Barata.

Party officials said the MoU formalizes a relationship that had already been developing, while stressing that it should not be treated as a defection to the NRM. Government Chief Whip Jane Ruth Aceng said the Independent MPs had sought the cooperation voluntarily. On behalf of the group, Rwampara East MP Charles Ngabirano said the move was aimed at helping constituents benefit from the manifesto endorsed by voters.

The development matters because it may strengthen the NRM’s parliamentary support base and affect how government bills and motions are handled in the 12th Parliament. In Uganda’s political system, cooperation between Independents and the ruling party is not unusual, but the scale of this arrangement appears notable based on the report.