By Aggrey Baba
In his weekend column published on Saturday, April 11th, in Uganda’s leading publication, Ofwono Opondo has observed that the country’s political terrain continues to tilt in favour of the ruling NRM, as its ideological training and mobilization machinery steadily drew in figures who once defined opposition politics.
He noted that one of the clearest illustrations of the unfolding trend is the presence of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister who doubles as the President General of Uganda’s oldest political party DP, Norbert Mao at the on-going NRM MPs-elect retreat in Kyankwanzi, a development that has reignited debate about the gradual absorption of strong opposition voices into the NRM’s ideological and strategic framework.
Opondo pointed out that Mao’s appearance at Kyankwanzi (long regarded as the ideological nerve centre of the NRM) is not an isolated event, but part of a broader and steadily unfolding political pattern in which former Museveni critics and opposition actors increasingly find themselves operating within the yellow party’s orbit. In his view, political realignment has become less of a dramatic shift and more of a slow, continuous process.
Mao, once a hardline opposition figure now found himself within government structures alongside former opposition MPs such as Anthony Akol and Ojara Mapenduzi, both of whom crossed over to the NRM and successfully returned to Parliament under the yellow ticket.
Their participation at Kyankwanzi, the MP, set to represent Older Persons of Eastern Uganda in the 12th parliament observes that it reinforced a familiar political reality in which ideological boundaries gradually softened with time.
The column further notes that Kyankwanzi has remained less of a casual retreat and more of a disciplined political classroom where strategy, loyalty, and direction are shaped. Decisions, he explained, are not driven by individual agitation but are carefully distilled through structured engagement and consensus-building processes that have often left little room for isolated ambition.
It is against this backdrop that Mao’s reported aspirations for the Speakership of Parliament are viewed with scepticism within yellow circles, especially given the numerical realities in the House and the already established endorsement of incumbents (Annet Anita Among and her Deputy Thomas Tayebwa).
In such circumstances, Opondo suggests, political ambition without institutional backing tends to collapse under its own weight.
He also reflected on Kyankwanzi’s long history of engaging political actors from across the divide, including former opposition figures who later joined government or aligned with the NRM. What critics once dismissed as brainwashing, he noted, had over time evolved into a recurring political pathway for many entrants into the yellow bus.
Opondo further observed that Kyankwanzi functions more as a convergence point than a battleground of ideas, where ideological differences are gradually flattened in favour of collective direction.
As the saying goes, if you can’t beat them, you join them. And now, Kyankwanzi has become the setting where that political reality unfolds.
He also highlights the generational mix within Parliament, where seasoned politicians such as Crispus Kiyonga, Ephraim Kamuntu, Henry Tumukunde, Amelia Kyambadde, Sam Engola, and Elioda Tumwesigye share space with youthful legislators barely in their thirties, a blend, he says, reflects a political system in which experience and youthful ambition continue to intersect under one roof. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
