NRM Veterans Elect Lt Mushabe as New Leader; Ofwono Opondo Defeats Gidudu

KAMPALA: Uganda’s ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) has elected retired lieutenant Moses Mushabe as chairperson of its Veterans League, defeating Security Minister Maj. Gen. (Rtd) Jim Muhwezi in an internal vote, official results showed on Tuesday.

Mushabe won 1,047 votes against Muhwezi’s 570, according to the NRM Electoral Commission.

Two other candidates, Jackson Kalusimbi and Tuwangye Kivanuka, received seven and 11 votes respectively.

The Veterans League represents ex-servicemen and women who fought in President Yoweri Museveni’s National Resistance Army during the 1980s guerrilla war.

Its chairperson sits on the party’s Central Executive Committee, the NRM’s top decision-making organ.

In a separate contest, government spokesman Ofwono Opondo defeated Minister for the Elderly and Disabled Affairs Dominic Mafwabi Gidudu to become the NRM flag-bearer for Older Persons MP in Eastern Uganda. Opondo gained 168 against Gidudu who garned 122.

Also on Monday night, Adrim Kobusingye was elected chairperson of the Women’s League with 1,838 votes, defeating Faridah Kirabo with 670. Three other candidates drew minimal support.

The internal elections come ahead of the NRM’s national conference later this year, where delegates are expected to confirm Museveni, 80, as the party’s presidential flag-bearer for the 2026 general elections.

Muhwezi, 75, is one of the country’s longest-serving politicians, having held several cabinet portfolios since the early 1990s.

His loss to Mushabe underscores shifting influence among veterans within the party.