Museveni Steps Away from Campaign Trail for State Duties

The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) has adjusted its campaign schedule in the Lango Sub-region after party presidential flagbearer, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, temporarily stepped away from the trail to attend to state duties.

In a statement shared on Saturday, the NRM Secretariat confirmed that rallies earlier planned for Lira City, Lira District and Kole District on Monday have been postponed. NRM Secretary General Richard Todwong explained that the President had a prior state engagement on that day.

“The campaigns in Lira City, Lira District and Kole District, which were slated for Monday, have been postponed. A new date will be communicated. However, for Oyam on Tuesday, we are on—we shall be there in the morning and then in Pakwach District in the afternoon,” Todwong told journalists after a meeting with district task forces in West Nile.

He appealed to supporters to understand the adjustment, stressing that the President is balancing his dual role as both candidate and Head of State.

“Our National Chairman is both a presidential candidate and the President of the country. He had a prior engagement on Monday that he must attend to, but he will resume his campaigns on Tuesday,” he noted.

Todwong said the NRM campaign is “progressing well across the country,” describing the response from supporters as “massive and exciting.” He revealed that the party has decentralised campaign structures to the grassroots, with district chairpersons leading task forces supported by subcounty, parish, and village leaders.

On matters of party unity, Todwong admitted that while some aspirants who lost in the primaries were initially reluctant to rally behind party flag bearers, many had since accepted the outcome and were working together. “The party is bigger than individuals,” he emphasised.

He also disclosed that the NRM’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) recently directed all party candidates to standardise their campaign branding by including the official presidential portrait on their posters as a symbol of unity.

“Crowd politics is nothing but entertainment. The real substance will be seen on voting day,” Todwong added.

President Museveni is expected to resume his campaign activities on Tuesday, October 7, beginning in Oyam District before heading to Pakwach District later in the day.