By Aggrey Baba
National Resistance Movement (NRM) Secretary General (SG) Richard Todwong has refused to treat Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba’s growing presidential endorsement campaign as a ticket to State House, insisting that NRM has not yet opened the process through which its 2031 presidential flag-bearer will be chosen.
With the CDF’s supporters traversing the country collecting signatures and endorsements for his presidential ambitions, Todwong has made it clear that their mobilization does not amount to an official NRM decision to make him the party’s next presidential candidate.
The position leaves the succession question wide open, with President YK Museveni yet to be confirmed as a candidate for another term and Muhoozi’s supporters still required to wait for the yellow camp’s formal procedures.
In an interview with Journalist Simon Peter Tumwine, Todwong acknowledged that the general has supporters who would like to see him become Uganda’s next President, but stressed that the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU) is currently expressing the wishes of its members rather than announcing a concluded decision by the NRM.
He explained that the PLU had indicated that its activities would be conducted under the NRM, meaning that any presidential ambitions advanced by its members would eventually have to be handled within the ruling party’s structures.
Todwong’s remarks amount to a warning against confusing the endorsement campaign with the formal process of securing the NRM presidential ticket.
Although Muhoozi’s supporters have been publicly promoting him for the 2031-2036 presidency, the NRM SG said he had not heard the general himself announce that he was contesting for the position, pointing instead to the supporters collecting signatures on his behalf.
He said the party would wait until those supporters formally presented their signatures and intentions before considering the matter at the appropriate time.
The NRM, he added, would also be prepared to receive other members who might express interest in contesting for the presidency under its ticket.
That position potentially leaves the door open to competing ambitions within the NRM, rather than allowing the ongoing PLU mobilization to be mistaken for an uncontested succession arrangement.
Asked whether the veteran President would contest again in 2031, Todwong said the party would allow its members to determine whom they wanted as their flag-bearer when the process opens.
He maintained that Museveni had not personally announced to the party that he intended to seek another term, arguing that previous presidential bids had followed nominations and endorsements by Ugandans who wanted him to stand.
“Once we start the journey, we will let you know whether the members still want President Museveni to contest again or they want someone else to contest,” Todwong said.
The statement leaves both the incumbent’s intentions and Muhoozi’s prospects unresolved, despite the growing political attention surrounding the first son’s endorsement drive.
The immediate issue, for the NRM, is not simply who has attracted the loudest public campaign, but who will eventually emerge through the party’s own selection process.
Todwong said NRM has a culture of unveiling its successful candidate to the public at the appropriate time, insisting that the current activities around Muhoozi remain an expression of interest.
The distinction is politically consequential because the PLU chairman is also the serving CDF, while his supporters are already building public momentum around his possible transition into elective politics.
Yet Todwong stopped short of endorsing that transition on behalf of the NRM, maintaining that the party would communicate its position when the appropriate stage of its calendar arrived.
