By Rodgers Bulegeya
Date: 18 August 2026
Your Excellency,
I write this open letter with profound respect, unwavering loyalty, and deep concern as Chairperson of the National Resistance Movement in Masaka City. On behalf of numerous distressed NRM leaders at the grassroots and intermediate levels, I appeal to your wisdom and sense of justice.
Your Excellency, allow us first to appreciate the remarkable work you have done in Masaka City. Under your visionary leadership, the Parish Development Model (PDM) has brought tangible socio-economic transformation to our communities.
We further commend the significant investments in infrastructure, including the improvement of roads, the development of the two markets of Nyendo and Masaka Central Market, and the ongoing construction of the Masaka recreational playground. These achievements have improved the lives of our people and strengthened the bond between the NRM and the citizens of Masaka City.
We have just concluded the Local Council I and II elections. A political organisation survives only when its grassroots structures remain vibrant, disciplined, and motivated.
In these recently concluded LC I elections across Masaka City, according to the official results released by the Electoral Commission, the NRM won 95 out of 201 LC I Chairperson positions, representing 47.3% of all elective positions.
Independent candidates secured 52 seats (25.9%), the National Unity Platform (NUP) won 53 seats (26.4%), while the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) won one seat (0.5%). This performance reaffirms the confidence that the people of Masaka City continue to place in the National Resistance Movement.
It also reflects the significant gains made by the NRM in Masaka City, where support for H.E. President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni increased substantially from 21% in the 2021 presidential election to 38% in 2026. These hard-won gains at the grassroots must be protected and consolidated, not undermined by internal demoralisation.
Out of the 25 parishes in Masaka City, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) emerged victorious in 22 parishes, equivalent to 88% of the total. Independent candidates won 3 parishes (12%), while all other political parties recorded zero parish victories.
It is with heavy hearts that we observe Your Excellency’s continued receptivity to the outright falsehoods peddled by Honourable Justine Nameere, the state Minister for Local Government. These untruths have created an atmosphere of suspicion, demoralisation, and institutional injury within the party structures.
Fair hearing is not a modern invention; it is a foundational principle of justice that stretches back to the very dawn of humanity. In the Garden of Eden, the Almighty Himself accorded Adam and Eve the dignity of a fair hearing before pronouncing judgment, as recorded in Genesis 3:9–13:
“But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ … And the man said, ‘The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.’ Then the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this that you have done?’ The woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate.’”
Even the Creator sought explanations from both parties before acting. How much more, then, should the Father of our Nation and the National Chairman of the NRM insist upon hearing both sides before allowing one narrative to harden into policy or perception?
Your Excellency, You recently characterised those who challenge one of the leaders as an “HIV virus.” If that virus is the instrument that exposes and eradicates the cancer of falsehood, then so be it.
Lies are not mere personal failings; they constitute an integral component of corruption. When falsehood is entertained without rigorous scrutiny, it corrodes public trust, rewards deceit, and undermines the moral authority of leadership.
Among the falsehoods propagated is the branding of Masaka security operatives as NUP sympathisers in January 2026 general elections. This allegation prompted Your Excellency to overhaul the entire security leadership in the region.
In essence, it has been claimed that these fabrications contributed to the death of the late Maj Gen Deus Sande, former commander of the Armoured Division.
All the officers fell victim to Honourable Nameere’s assertions that they were pro-NUP, when they were instrumental in the improved performance of the NRM in the recently concluded 2026 general elections.
The inception of these deceptions can be traced to Your Excellency’s rally at Liberation Square in Masaka City, where Honourable Nameere made the blatant claim that security personnel had prevented members of the public from attending.
During the recently concluded by-election, Honourable Nameere opposed the NRM Woman Member of Parliament flag-bearer for Kalangala District under the guise of combating NRM leaders. Fortunately, her efforts proved futile, and the NRM prevailed.
Honourable Nameere was responsible for the arbitrary arrest of Godfrey Ntale, the elected LCI chairperson of Misaali Village, Kalagala Parish, Nyendo-Mukungwe Division. He was apprehended on her orders on the evening of the LCI elections, accused of failing to support her during the party primaries.
She was overheard declaring, “Kabamusibe teyampagira.” Subsequently, the NRM candidate who had won the LCI seat for Kirinda, Kalagala in Nyendo-Mukungwe Division, lost to the NUP after Honourable Nameere ordered a recount.
She has further insulted NRM leaders in Masaka City, referring to them as swine.
Honourable Nameere is systematically dismantling our most effective instrument for socio-economic transformation the Parish Development Model (PDM) by replacing genuine leaders with her own supporters. This imposition of loyalists has severely compromised the programme’s effectiveness.
She remains at loggerheads with virtually all religious leaders, thereby weakening the NRM’s foundational support in Masaka City. Most recently, cultural leaders have also expressed profound dissatisfaction.
Her falling out with the media is equally troubling. She ordered the arrest of Frank Bwekumbule of Impact Media; he was subsequently attacked by assailants and narrowly escaped with his life. A similar incident is alleged to have occurred when she reportedly dispatched hitmen against Namutebi Nakagumbi (alias Full Figure).
She has likewise threatened members of the judiciary, security services, and human-rights defenders, warning officers that failure to comply with her directives will result in the loss of their positions.
As NRM leaders, our voices are systematically stifled whenever we seek to address pressing issues, subordinated instead to her personal interests. Constructive criticism within the party would be both healthy and necessary, yet no genuine platform exists for it. Consequently, the media remains the only available avenue through which we may raise these concerns.
However, allow us to appreciate Your Excellency for the positive influence you have had on Honourable Nameere of late. We can comfortably state that, as leaders of the NRM in Masaka City, we have not received any provocation or insults from her over the past three weeks.
If she continues in this manner, Your Excellency, we pledge to work with her and fully support her in serving the people of Masaka City and the NRM.
We love you, Your Excellency, as the Father of the Nation and as our National Chairman. That affection, however, does not silence our duty to speak truth to power. There is an urgent need of engaging both parties rather than listening exclusively to one side.
Continued one-sided reception of information will not only fracture internal party cohesion but will also erode the hard-won support that the NRM has painstakingly rebuilt in recent years.
Should the current climate of demoralisation persist, the support base that we have carefully cultivated over the past six years risks regressing to the diminished levels of 2021.
Your Excellency, we therefore humbly yet firmly urge you to open a listening ear to all genuine voices within the NRM and opinion leaders in Masaka City. Reject the comfort of unchallenged narratives.
Insist upon verified facts rather than convenient untruths. Summon the parties concerned, examine the evidence, and adjudicate with the same fairness that God Himself modelled at the beginning of human history. We urge you as our father and we are sure you will listen.
We remain your loyal cadres, ready to build, ready to defend, and ready to speak when silence would amount to betrayal of the NRM’s founding ideals.
With the highest esteem and continued allegiance,
Rodgers Bulegeya
Chairperson National Resistance Movement – Masaka City
