Political organizations are working around the clock to tie the loose ends as the country gears towards the next phase of general elections which will climax with local council elections in February next year.
This has been evidenced by the recent release of the electoral roadmap by the ruling National Resistance Movement – NRM last week.
The hugely comprehensive guidelines not only shade light on the organization’s preparedness for the next challenge but also amplify it’s threatening might as a party infront of rivals with whom they stroll to the political weighing scale come early next year.
Needless to shout it out out as a fact, NRM, as usual, becomes the only political party to present such an enormous arrangement spelling out strict guidelines to be adhered to heading into the very sensitive political landscape.
The action packed period will kick off with the call for expression of interest and picking nomination forms for local government councils between 15th and 30th April which will go concurrently with the deliberate mobilization of voters for the display of registers directly supervised by the office of the NRM Secretary General.
On May 2 to May, 14 2025, nomination for Local Government Council positions will be conducted which will be followed by joint campaigns for the positions between May 15 and 22. Jointly, will be district conferences from May 18th to 30th to harmonize leadership structures to iron out clashes that could have arisen from the competition for positions.
The above are just a few of the activities that give an insight into the broad spectrum of the process and the seriousness with which the party is treating the process ahead.
Noteworthy from what we have witnessed, NRM refuses to treat the general election as an event, and looking at the electoral outcome as the end goal but rather just as a process that should be relied upon to strengthen its foundations right from the grassroots to the top.
The activities will see the party emerge through next year’s elections with brand new, reinvigorated leadership structures, down to the top, which will anchor the political outfit for the next half a decade.
This doesn’t only facilitate a seamless push for their political mandate renewal but also builds an unshakable foundation concrete enough for generations ahead to push forward.
One may wonder why the party chose the seemingly hectic and complex universal suffrage approach to identifying it’s flag bearers, with some viewing it as a waste of resources and time. Outwardly, these skeptics may appear to have a genuine case. DP, and FDC or UPC use a few delegates to choose who holds their flag, while NUP, the most vibrant political party by numerical representation in parliament hand picks theirs. These strategies, both save time and resources and in the short term may seem less divisive. There has ,however, been grave concerns over the suitability of the process with aggrieved members who miss out on endorsements pointing accusing fingers at a few executives whom they accuse of biased decision making, causing ruptures in their party ranks. NUP in particular for instance has been under intense scrutiny from a section of the public to explain accusations of corruption by high end officials of their Mercy Walukamba led Electoral Commission which has varioysly been sited in endorsement for money scandals. This can not be said of the NRM system where candidates are selected by all members of the party.
The universal suffrage system also has an advantage of allowing the party to get to the voters way before the National Electoral Commission grants the same privilege to it’s nominated candidates. Look, as the party is cleared to convene meetings and address gatherings to elect their torchbearers, those from parties which do not have a universal suffrage mechanism of choosing flag bearers will not have the same privilege. Throughout this process, the party has already got into close contact with the voters and the yellow bus symbol and when the electoral commission opens up at a later stage, the party is just building on months of mobilisation.
All that said, NRM, with all it’s weight behind President Museveni for next years Presidential elections,has already set the wheel moving. The various nationwide elections and the reinforced mobilization efforts through the strong, well guided Secretariat, alongside an enviable resource envelope will most certainly catapult Kyandondo road based group to another five year term, very much to the chagrin and envy of rivals.
If the opposition are to match the strategic prowess of the ruling outfit, more time investment, strategic planning and benchmarking against the very force they seek to outcompete shouldn’t be negotiable considerations. There is also need to identify and nature leaders of charisma other than leaving political fanaticism plague their cause with personalities overriding the grand notion of a common agenda.
The Writer is the Deputy Resident City Commissioner for Nakawa Division, Kampala
