President Yoweri Museveni has welcomed a decision by NRM aspirants to step down from contesting for the party flag in the upcoming by-elections in Busongora South and Gogonyo County.
The candidates that accepted to step down include Mulindwa David, Barozi Frank Asiimwe, and Bwambale David for the Busongora South constituency seat, from which the court of appeal ejected Gideon Thembo Mujungu.
The Other candidate Issa Bantalib Taligola had sought to challenge Derrick Orone for the Gogonyo County Parliamentary seat after successfully challenging his initial election in Court.
But Museveni said the current flag holders should be allowed to complete their terms without being internally challenged and advised the other aspirants to wait until 2026 for a fresh bid.
This was reached during a meeting called to harmonize the party’s position before the elections in the two constituencies.
The Electoral Commission has designated August 18, as a voting day for both the Gogonyo County and Busongora South by-elections.
As the constituencies go to the polls, Museveni advised those who were seeking to contest to use this time to go and popularise government programs such as the Parish Development Model that he said is aimed at causing social-economic transformation.
“What you now need is the NRM programme for those areas to transform economically. The government has developed these areas, there is now peace…Although there are still some problems, we have progressed,” Museveni said.
The NRM National Mobiliser, Rosemary Sseninde appealed to all NRM members to prioritize the party before their personal interests. “NRM is bigger than all of us. Let these candidates step down for the flagbearers, let them be patient,” Sseninde said.