Kampala – August 28, 2025
The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) has come under sharp criticism from within its own ranks after Capt. Mike Mukula, the party’s National Vice Chairman for Eastern Uganda, announced his withdrawal from the race to retain the seat, citing corruption, voter bribery, and the commercialization of politics.
Mukula, a veteran NRM mobilizer and key figure in the East, said he could not in good conscience continue in a race “grossly compromised” by money politics. In a scathing statement released on Thursday, he declared that the current campaign had been reduced to a contest of who could spend the most rather than who could best serve the party and the people.
“The exercise has been marred by widespread corruption, open voter bribery, and the reckless expenditure of huge sums of money to influence delegates,” Mukula revealed. “To participate under such circumstances would be to legitimize an illegality and to endorse practices that I fundamentally oppose.”
His remarks, unusually blunt for a senior NRM official, shine a light on the internal decay many observers have long accused the ruling party of tolerating. Mukula warned that the integrity of the NRM’s democratic processes was under threat, saying such practices “erode the moral fabric of our Movement and delegitimize our internal democracy.”
Presenting his withdrawal as an act of principle, Mukula emphasized he was choosing “conscience over convenience, integrity over position, and principle over expediency.” He dismissed any suggestion that his move was a sign of weakness, insisting it was instead “a stand against the corrosion of our party’s values.”
The former State Minister and longtime Museveni ally called on the NRM Chairman, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, the Central Executive Committee (CEC), and the Party’s Electoral Commission to urgently institute reforms. He argued that without immediate corrective measures, the party risked losing its moral authority and alienating its grassroots supporters.
“My withdrawal should not be mistaken for indifference,” Mukula noted. “On the contrary, it is an act of conviction and political maturity — a clear stand against the commercialization of politics.”
Despite the harsh criticism, Mukula pledged continued loyalty to the NRM and to Museveni’s leadership, saying he would keep serving Uganda “in whichever capacity I can, guided always by patriotism, integrity, and service above self.”
His exit is expected to significantly alter the dynamics of the hotly contested Eastern Region vice chairmanship race, a position considered critical in rallying support for the ruling party ahead of the 2026 general elections.
