Date: 10/02/2026
To: His Excellency Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda.
Subject: Urgent Appeal to Safeguard the NRM’s Integrity: Reject Appointment of MPs Linked to Bribery, Voter Intimidation, and Excessive Monetization in the 2026 Electoral Processes.
Your Excellency,
I hope this letter finds you in good health and high spirits. I write with the deepest respect and unwavering loyalty as a dedicated member and aspiring representative of the National Resistance Movement (NRM), the party you have led with extraordinary vision, discipline, and steadfastness for decades.
As an aspirant for the Rukungiri Municipality Parliamentary seat in the 2026 elections under the NRM flag, I have actively participated in the party’s internal processes and witnessed firsthand serious challenges that threaten the integrity, unity, and long-term future of our great movement.
The NRM was founded on timeless principles of unity, discipline, service to the people, and the restoration of stability after decades of misrule. These values have delivered remarkable progress for Uganda.
However, the recent NRM primaries and stages leading to the 2026 general elections were unfortunately marred by widespread reports of serious malpractices, including:
- Bribery of voters and delegates through large sums of money to influence outcomes.
- Intimidation and coercion, including threats and misuse of influence to suppress genuine competition.
- Excessive monetization of campaigns, where vast amounts of money overshadow merit, policy ideas, track records, and authentic grassroots support.
These practices have been particularly pronounced in Western Uganda, including constituencies in districts such as Rukungiri, where honest, capable, and service-oriented aspirants like myself faced severe and unfair disadvantages.
Many contestants, observers, and even some who lost have publicly voiced concerns about how money and intimidation distorted the true will of the people and undermined the emergence of quality, people-centered leadership.
While the recently concluded general elections have reaffirmed your mandate and the NRM’s strong dominance, the appointment or endorsement of individuals credibly implicated in such undemocratic practices to key parliamentary roles, Cabinet positions, committees, or other significant responsibilities carries grave risks. These include:
- Undermining merit and leadership quality – turning elections into auctions where wealth, rather than competence, vision, or service, determines winners, often leading to self-serving governance.
- Eroding public trust and party legitimacy – fostering cynicism, reducing civic participation, and leaving the NRM vulnerable to opposition exploitation.
- Excluding ordinary citizens – making politics prohibitively expensive and locking out women, youth, and average Ugandans without access to big funding, thus reducing inclusive representation.
- Promoting a culture of corruption and impunity – normalizing transactional politics, perpetuating cycles of resource misuse, and weakening accountability.
- Distorting electoral outcomes and democratic integrity – suppressing genuine competition and discouraging service-focused leaders from future participation.
Your Excellency, your leadership has consistently emphasized the fight against corruption, the promotion of fair play, and the protection of democratic values. By addressing these concerns decisively, you would reinforce the NRM’s commitment to clean, merit-based politics, inspire the youth and future generations, safeguard the party’s moral foundation, and ensure that Parliament truly reflects the aspirations of all Ugandans.
In humble submission, I respectfully request that Your Excellency:
- Direct relevant authorities and party organs to thoroughly investigate credible allegations of bribery, voter intimidation, and other electoral malpractices from the recent NRM primaries and 2026 general elections, particularly in Western Uganda.
- Refrain from appointing or endorsing to Cabinet, influential parliamentary committees, or other key positions any MPs credibly linked to these undemocratic practices, in favor of upholding merit, integrity, and the authentic voice of the people.
- Consider practical mechanisms to strengthen party discipline, enhance electoral transparency, and curb excessive monetization in future processes, thereby protecting the NRM’s legacy as a genuine people’s movement.
I remain fully available to provide any additional details, evidence, or clarifications should you require them. I pledge my continued loyalty, support, and dedication to you personally, His Excellency the President, and to the National Resistance Movement.
Thank you for your invaluable time, profound wisdom, and tireless dedication to the progress and unity of Uganda.
Yours in loyal and humble service to the Nation and the NRM,
Kabano Apollo Kyabarongo | Former NRM MP Aspirant, Rukungiri Municipality 2026-2031
