Former National Resistance Movement (NRM) Kampala Region vice-chairperson Singh Katongole has warned that the ruling party risks being overshadowed by the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU), as the pressure group expands its grassroots mobilisation and gathers support for Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba’s possible 2031 presidential bid.
Speaking on NBS Television’s Morning Breeze programme hosted by Simon Kaggwa Njala, Katongole urged President Yoweri Museveni to clarify the relationship between the NRM and PLU. He said uncertainty about the ruling party’s future direction and leadership was becoming a concern among its members.
Katongole argued that PLU’s growing visibility was shifting public attention away from the NRM, which has governed Uganda since 1986. He questioned the party’s activities following the 2026 elections, saying, “Personally, I haven’t seen any activity of the party since the elections ended.”
He explained that PLU was initially intended to complement the NRM rather than compete with it for political attention. Katongole warned that established party leaders should be concerned if supporters increasingly viewed the pressure group as the more active platform for political mobilisation. “If you are thinking straight, you should be worried,” he said.
The former NRM official also questioned the party’s succession plans as PLU supporters increasingly endorsed Gen Muhoozi, the Chief of Defence Forces and Museveni’s son, for the 2031 presidency. He argued that the NRM already had established structures for choosing leaders but said its leadership needed to communicate more clearly about its future plans.
Katongole singled out Museveni as the person capable of addressing the uncertainty, saying the party appeared to be waiting for the President to speak. However, the NRM had undertaken organisational activities after the elections, including a four-day secretariat retreat in Kiruhura District that reportedly focused on internal cohesion, recruitment, discipline and mobilisation strategies for the 2026–2031 period.
Meanwhile, PLU has continued expanding its grassroots structures and organising endorsements for Muhoozi. The group has publicly maintained that it does not intend to become an independent political party, with its spokesperson, Andrew Mwenda, describing it as a civic organisation, pressure group and social movement operating within the NRM framework.
Katongole said the growing involvement of young people in PLU’s mobilisation was an issue established NRM leaders could not afford to ignore. He maintained that Museveni retained considerable influence over the ruling political establishment and could help determine its direction by clarifying the relationship between the two organisations. His remarks have renewed debate about the NRM’s future, PLU’s growing political profile and how leadership ambitions ahead of 2031 will be managed within the ruling establishment.
