By Mulengera Reporters
The National Resistance Movement (NRM) Electoral Tribunal is embroiled in controversy surrounding Agatha Nalubwama, a prominent leader from Kayunga District. Despite never filing a petition, Nalubwama has been invited to a tribunal hearing on Tuesday against Jackline Birungi, who was declared the winner of the NRM primaries. Agatha Nalubwama insists that she actually won the election only for her win to be altered in favor of Jacqueline Birungi.
Nalubwama had declared her intention to run as an independent candidate and explicitly stated that she would not file a petition against Birungi due to her lack of trust in the Tribunal.
Nalubwama’s team asserts that she only submitted a report implicating district party Chairman Moses Karangwa. She addressed her report to the Chairman NRM Electoral Commission, not the Tribunal. They argue that a petition requires evidence and must be served to the person in question, which was not done in this case.
Nalubwama’s team accuses Karangwa and Dr. Tanga Odoi of working together to undermine her, aiming to give Birungi legitimacy. However, Nalubwama remains confident, stating that she will deliver President Museveni with over 70% of the votes in the January presidential election in Kayunga district.
In her communication seen by our reporters sent to government, Agatha talks about her late father and her hunsband a former national youth leader and explains how she has spent years moving village to village mobilising for President Museveni.
Agatha continues to point out that the Kayunga people are fighting for a positive change that will come with unity, better service delivery and community development.
“I feel so hurt to see majority of the youth in Kayunga live in poverty and our leaders can’t help them but instead they choose to use them to fight political wars. Iam happy Kayunga youths and women embraced Kayunga Empya Development Association,” Agatha Nalubwama pointed out as she addressed the press conference in Kayunga.
Nalubwama’s team has also since briefed President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, also NRM Chairman, on what transpired and he is very much aware of the full story. The President is also aware that Agatha Nalubwama never petitioned the Tribunal and is aware of whatever happened in Kayunga.
“President Museveni will not fall for the tricks of political thieves in Kayunga,” says a key member of Agatha Nalubwama’s campaign team.
Agatha Nalubwama says she is set to liberate Kayunga and will deliver President Museveni with over 70% in the January presidential elections.
Agatha says she is the voice of the Kayunga people and claims this is what is hurting the Moses Karangwa group. “If Agatha Nalubwama is weak, why is the Karangwa group pushing to have her out of the race and why are they facilitating hooligans to fight her?” wonders one of Agatha’s key campaigners.
Moses Karangwa and his daughter Birungi have faced unprecedented levels of resistance and the messaging in Nalubwama’s camp is that January 2026 is going to be their waterloo. The Nalubwama camp is also angry with NRM EC Chairman Dr. Tanga Odoi who they say can’t do anything to ensure sanity in Kayunga because he fears to offend Moses Karangwa who is like his boss.
“We hereby message to all the people of Kayunga that Agatha Nalubwama has never petitioned against Jackline Birungi. Agatha Nalubwama has never sought the intervention of the NRM Electoral Tribunal. Agatha Nalubwama surrendered herself to the public court, which is the people of Kayunga district, who will mediate the public tribunal in January 2026,” partly reads a Saturday media statement from Nalubwama’s campaign team.
“The people of Kayunga know who their leader is and it’s Agatha Nalubwama. Agatha Nalubwama, commonly known as Maama Kayunga Empya, is also the leader of Kayunga Empya Development Association, which has been building development teams in villages for development.”
AGATHA NALUBWAMA REPORT TO TANGA:
On 24th July 2024, Agatha Nalubwama wrote a report to the Chairman NRM ELECTORAL Commission as a decent NRM cadre explaining what exactly transpired and why she was not seeking for the intervention of the Tribunal and why she was standing as an independent candidate.
Her report claimed the following things:
Thay photocopied DR forms in black and white, some with serial numbers others without serial numbers were used on voting day and originals used by the NRM office in Kayunga days before the election to input wrong results to the benefit of Birungi Jackline the daughter of Chairman NRM Kayunga district. She claims that this was evidently seen done in all the 13 sub counties and town councils.
She adds that in some polling stations like Tente NRM LC1 Ssebagereka gave the voters an order that President Museveni said vote for Birungi because of her ancestral origin and not Agatha Nalubwama saying that the message came from the NRM district Chairman.
That there was also suspension and replacement of some of the electoral registrars with partisan individuals at subcounty, parish and village levels.
She also claims bribery of head teachers and students from Namagabi SSS, Suuka Islamic, St Mulumba SSS, Kangulumira Public SSS, Busaana SSS, St Peters Kibuzi, Mataba seed school, Nalinya SSS and these schools’ involvement in the voting process at different polling stations.
That there was also tampering with vote tallies and engaging in voter stuffing. For example, at Namagabi B polling station I received 27 votes and my opponent 999 votes yet the village has less people registered in the yellow book.
She also referred to violation of the yellow books by the village registrars. Names in the NRM register not read and an exercise book with names of students from different schools read from the middle of the NRM register hence the voting was done by secondary students not in the yellow book and not the adults that registered in the yellow book this was done at Namagabi B, Kitiimbwa RC and many other polling stations.
That some of her agents were forced to sign DR forms before voting began contrary to standard electoral practices.
Underage voters some from among students’ others from among the community participated in favor of my opponent.
The rest of her claims include the following:
-Multiple voting by supporters of my opponent at different polling stations. The registrar would wait for a nearby village to finish voting so that the supporters of my opponent can come join the next village before voting takes place forexample at Nakaliro the village registrar Wisdom waited for voting to end at Kibira, Kayunga west and Kayunga central neighbouring polling stations so that supporters of my opponent would later on join voting at Nakaliro village.
-Intimidation of voters commanding them to support my opponent forcefully and some of them where actually pulled out of the line for example at Tente village in Kayunga town council an elderly woman by the names of Namatovu Magerate was pulled out of the line forcefully.
-Intimidation of my agents at all polling stations and one of my agents at Namutya polling station in Busaana sub county the village registrar crashed his smart phone because he was trying to take a video for evidence.
-Forcing my agents to sign on DR forms before voting took place to aid vote rigging.
-Village registrars running away with the DR forms where I emerged winner at all polling stations.
-Bribery at the polling stations with cash to change the results in favor of my opponent. This was evident when I found the NRM Chairman in the act of giving out money at Kamunye zone polling station, Bukolooto ward in Kayunga town council.
-Allowing non registered voters to participate in the election multiple times by people ferried from outside the district by the chairman Kayunga district.
-Partiality by the party officials against my candidature in this regard Dr Tanga Odoi and Chairman Karangwa. External and sectarian influence in favor of my opponent.
-The district, subcounty and village registrars all coached by the chairman to only declare my opponent winner at all levels.
-All this was expected because the NRM Office in Kayunga was already compromised by the NRM district chairman fronting a daughter as well as being the one who picked up the DR forms and the one who received money to pay all registrars.
-The signatures on the DR forms are all different they do not correspond to be signed by the same person.
-Some DR forms are seen to have one handwriting by the same village registrar.
-Use of UPDF officers by the NRM Chairman to intimidate the voters.
-To avoid the above irregularities, I wrote two petitions to the Chairman NRM electoral commission one dated 30th June, 2025 with reference ‘TO INTERVENE IN THE NRM PRIMARIES OF KAYUNGA DISTRICT’ and second petition dated 14th July, 2025 with reference ‘PETITION AGAINST MR KARANGWA KARIISA MOSES THE NRM CHAIRMAN KAYUNGA DISTRICT DISRUPTING THE ELECTION PROCESS IN THE NRM PRIMARIES all petitions were received and I received no response.
-Due to the massive rigging in the MPs NRM primaries, the LC5 NRM primaries have registered low turn up of 20%. Voters claim that those they vote are not declared, why should they vote? And this is likely to affect the NRM support in Kayunga district by declining to below 30% in the coming 2026 general elections because the will of the people was exchanged.
Therefore, I will be coming back as an independent candidate for the woman member of parliament Kayunga district.
