'Uganda’s Maradona': Museveni to extend tenure past 40 years in 2026

President Museveni on Saturday personally collected nomination forms from the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party headquarters in Kampala, in the clearest signal of his intent to seek a seventh five-year term as party chairman and presidential flagbearer, aiming to extend his uninterrupted rule beyond 40 years.

Draped in the party’s signature yellow, thousands of NRM supporters gathered in and around Plot 13 in Kampala by midday, merrymaking as Museveni ambled into Kyadondo past 1pm with First Lady Janet for the first formal step in a process widely seen as reaffirming his grip on power.

President Museveni and First Lady Janet arrive at the NRM offices in Kampala on his day of picking nomination forms for a 7th presidential term, June 28, 2025. PHOTO/HANDOUT

Anything other than a fresh bid — launched in battleground Kampala by Museveni himself, who will be 81 by voting day in early 2026 — would mark a major political realignment in Uganda’s post-independence landscape.

“When I was doing my PDM tours, everywhere in public meetings, there have been resolutions passed, and petitions signed requesting me to offer myself to be chairman of NRM again and also the party presidential flagbearer." he said, adding that: “I’ve been saying we shall decide that at the right time… Now this is the right time when I’ve come to pick nomination forms."

Since seizing power in 1986, Museveni has earned praise from supporters for revolutionising Uganda. But as he unveiled his Shs20 million bid to extend his rule into a fourth decade, the capital was under heavy military and police deployment.

In the company of the First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports Maama Janet Museveni, President Museveni said the decision to contest was informed by the love and support he has received from the NRM fraternity during upcountry tours.

Museveni now seeks a fresh mandate despite deep-rooted crises — including endemic corruption, soaring unemployment, widespread poverty, stalled progress, institutional decay, constitutional concerns, crime and mounting speculation over a looming succession battle that threatens to unsettle the meticulously maintained political equilibrium.

In the run-up to Saturday, Museveni also attacked the opposition for lacking the experience to govern and accused them of colluding with Western powers to destabilize Uganda. Opposition leaders dismiss these claims as political smears.

Uganda’s post-colonial history features just nine presidencies since independence from Britain in 1962. With a population approaching 46 million, per government data, most Ugandans have only ever known one leader, Museveni.

Supporters of the ruling NRM gesture inside the party headquarters in Kampala on June 28, 2025 as President Museveni arrives to pick nomination forms for his bid to contest a seventh presidential term. PHOTO/HANDOUT

The January 2026 general election is quite expected to reaffirm the former guerilla fighter's dominance in a political environment where dissent is routinely suppressed violently, and electoral processes are frequently marred by accusations of irregularities and court challenges.

Leading the opposition is Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, a former pop star turned politician who came second in 2021 and has already declared his intention to run again.

Bobi Wine has repeatedly denounced the last election as fraudulent, citing ballot stuffing, voter intimidation, and a security apparatus hostile to his campaign.

“Museveni our Messi…Maradona”

According to NRM electoral commission chairperson Dr Tanga Odoi, the party had originally scheduled the presidential nomination for July 3, but due to anticipated commotion, July 5 has now been specifically reserved for Museveni to formally return for nomination.

This will pave the way for Museveni’s already decreed endorsement as NRM frontrunner and national chairman. The nomination of the presidential flag bearer, set by NRM for October 2–3, is a process that has traditionally tilted in his favour, effectively setting the stage for a pre-World Cup 2026 poll clash of generations, ideology, and vision with few others that have expressed interest.

On Saturday, Tororo Municipality MP Yeri Apollo Ofwono, also the district’s NRM party chairperson, voiced staunch support for Museveni saying: “We’re waiting for the delegates’ conference then we clear him fully as sole candidate. We cannot change the player because he is Uganda's Maradona. He is the guy who can score all the goals like Messi, like Diego Maradona, so why change him?”

Rosemary Nansubuga Seninde, NRM Director for Mobilization, called for party unity. “This is the time to stop the infighting and improve while the opposition grapples with its own challenges. In 2021, we didn’t perform well in central Uganda and the Busoga sub-region, but we are optimistic about 2026. The government’s programmes like PDM have helped many out of poverty.”

Opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine and President Museveni. Bobi Wine rejected the 2021 results which Uganda's electoral commission declared in favour of Museveni. PHOTO/X

Alongside the presidential vote, Ugandans will also elect members of parliament in January, setting the stage for a highly charged and consequential political contest.

Bobi Wine has already declared the 2026 poll a “Protest Vote” against systemic failures of Museveni's government.

But Museveni concluded his Saturday remarks saying: “I thank the NRM fraternity for the support they have showed me and this is what has encouraged me to come forward to escort the party members, especially the Bazzukulu for five more years and then we see what happens.”

Bobi Wine came second but rejected the 2021 election results, saying his victory was stolen.