By Aggrey Baba
The embattled President of the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) Jimmy Akena has opened up about the intra-party disagreements that left him off the 2026 presidential ballot, saying his exclusion was deliberate and revealing how efforts to reunite the party ahead of the elections eventually collapsed.
Akena said during a press conference on Wednesday, that he had attempted to bring together the different UPC factions, including engaging Peter Walubiri and Joseph Ochweto, in the hope of reaching a common position before the 2026 elections. But those efforts did not produce the unity he had hoped for. Full Akena video is hereunder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HArMbVy1NQ&t=174s.
“It is not by accident I was not wanted on the ballot,” he said, without elaborating on the individuals or interests he believed were behind the decision.
Despite the internal divisions, Akena said UPC remained a significant political force, pointing to its performance in the 2026 elections and arguing that the party could have achieved even more had its internal affairs been handled differently.
He also looked back at previous UPC delegates conferences, including the 2006 Christ the King conference, the 2010 Namboole conference where he said he lost and accepted the outcome, the 2015 Showgrounds conference and the 2020 Kasangati conference.
To Akena, the history of those contests demonstrates that internal disagreements are not new to UPC. What matters, he argued, is ensuring that such differences do not destroy the party itself.
“I love UPC. I want UPC to thrive, to succeed, despite my being hindered,” Akena said.
His remarks also turned toward the 2031 political cycle, which he said was already attracting attention even though the country was barely out of the 2026 election period.
“We are supposed to be in the honeymoon period,” Akena said, questioning why political actors were already looking ahead to another presidential contest, something which was perceived by many as a veiled jab at the first son Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba and his political organization (PLU), following the recent declaration that he will run for President in 2031.
He further reflected on his own political journey, saying he had spent 29 years in exile and, at 59, was only now spending more than half of his life in Uganda.
Akena said no Ugandan should have to live in exile because of political disagreements, arguing that political differences should instead be resolved through political engagement.
“Clearly the field is not level. Some have a highway. Others even the small path, they are going to be tripped,” he said, describing what he sees as unequal political conditions. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
