To: H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, NRM Chairman
Date: April 17, 2025
Your Excellency,
As the National Resistance Movement (NRM) prepares for the 2026 elections, Rukungiri remains a critical battleground where opposition forces persistently challenge our dominance. Kabano Apollo Kyabarongo, a devoted NRM supporter and aspiring candidate, pledges to tell you the unvarnished truth about the district’s politics marked by hate, competition, and the self-serving actions of Bush War comrades like Dr. Kizza Besigye, Maj. Gen. Jim Muhwezi, and Lt. Gen. Henry Tumukunde. After nearly 40 years of your transformative leadership, Mr. President, Rukungiri’s poverty and division demand a generational shift to renew NRM’s strength.
The Bush War Trio: Ego Over Party. Your Excellency, Besigye, Muhwezi, and Tumukunde rose with you through the Bush War, but their actions have strayed from NRM’s ideals. Once united, these comrades now compete bitterly not for the people’s welfare, but for personal power. Their rivalry has turned Rukungiri into a battleground of egos, fueled by manipulation and a thirst for relevance. Tumukunde, as ISO Director General, twisted intelligence reports to exaggerate Besigye’s threat, masking a personal vendetta with his infamous warning, “the guns of Luwero are still available.” Yet, in 2018, he praised Besigye as “development-oriented” and “peace-loving,” revealing his duplicity. Muhwezi, meanwhile, has fed you half-truths about his grip on Rukungiri, hiding his failure to unite our base or deliver results. Dr Besigye exploits their chaos, rallying opposition with a narrative of betrayal. For decades, these men have distorted reality to cling to influence, sidelining grassroots voices like mine.
Theft, Intimidation, and Lies: Tools of the Old Guard
Mr. President, Tumukunde and Muhwezi sustain power through shameful tactics. They wield money stolen from government coffers, funds meant for our communities to bankroll lavish campaigns and patronage networks. Tumukunde’s 2021 presidential bid and Muhwezi’s Rujumbura dominance thrive on this theft, breeding resentment among voters who see no progress. As retired generals, they intimidate with military clout, warning that opposing them means opposing you a lie that compromises your vote. Families are coerced into supporting them out of fear, not loyalty. Worst of all, they boast of “accessing you whenever they want,” falsely implying your blessing for their schemes, confusing voters and weakening NRM’s credibility.
Opposition Strength: A Failure of Leadership. Your Excellency, Rukungiri’s opposition is a persistent challenge, rooted in Dr Besigye’s popularity and grassroots networks. In 2016, he outpolled you (58,883 to 56,425), and in 2018, FDC’s Betty Muzanira won the Woman MP by-election despite your efforts. This resilience stems from discontent poor roads, crumbling health centers, and limited electricity and water neglected under Muhwezi’s watch, compounded by Tumukunde’s divisive tactics. Senior cadres have misled you, downplaying the opposition’s appeal while relying on bribery and coercion instead of mobilization. The defection of 350 opposition members to NRM in October 2024 offers hope, but it’s fragile against their ability to rally sentiment.
40 Years: Time for New Blood. Your Excellency, your 40-years leadership has reshaped Uganda, but in Rukungiri, it’s been hijacked by aging figures Tumukunde (66), Muhwezi (nearing 70), who cling to power through falsified reports, stolen wealth, and fear. Out of touch with a youth craving jobs, education, and infrastructure, they’ve held us back, allowing opposition strength to grow. I speak for a new generation of NRM loyalists, untainted by betrayal or self-enrichment, ready to carry your vision forward.
Your Excellency, Lt. Gen. Tumukunde’s potential parliamentary run is a misstep we cannot afford. At 66, he’s a relic, out of step with Rukungiri’s youthful electorate. His potential candidacy is not just a risk to NRM’s unity it’s a liability rooted in a career marked by personal ambition over public service. the favor he once enjoyed, left him a figure more pitied than respected. While he held high office, the district languished with poor infrastructure and unmet needs grievances that fuel opposition strength today.
If needed, offer him a ceremonial role to preserve his dignity, but he must be kept off the ballot to safeguard our party’s future in Rukungiri.
Despite roles as ISO chief, Minister of Security, and Bush War officer, his 2021 bid against you exposed disloyalty. His political life is a tale of setbacks and rebellion. In 2021, a failed presidential run left him without favor or legacy. Where are the roads, schools, or health centers he delivered? None exist.
You once said in Runyankore, “Bagashirebusha okiriho” the cows multiply when you are present but what about when you’re away? absence reveals a lack of lasting impact. It’s a clever way to question someone’s effectiveness or legacy everything thrives only when they’re around to keep up appearances, but falls apart otherwise. we request Keep him off the ballot.
Your Excellency, sideline Gen Jim Muhwezi who has misled you, elevate youthful competent leaders to rebuild trust. The General sees himself as Rukungiri’s “president,” and king . His aspirations to stay in power indefinitely are fueled by a belief that you’ve promised him a ministerial job a carrot he dangles before his loyalists to justify his grip on Rujumbura and the NRM machinery. yet delivers no development.
His tenure is marked by neglect and factionalism, not results. His track record and ambitions reveal a man more interested in personal glory than party success, and it’s time to make way for a new generation. For years, he has fed you an incomplete picture of Rukungiri, assuring you of his control while glossing over the opposition’s gains and NRM’s internal rifts. As Rujumbura MP and a senior party figure, he has portrayed himself as indispensable, yet the 2016 election loss to FDC and the 2018 by-election defeat expose his failure to secure the District.
New voices can bridge the gap with voters, delivering where he has failed, signaling that NRM rewards merit, not entitlement.
Your Excellency, I urge you to fund targeted development projects Invest in Development, fund roads, schools, and health centers to counter opposition claims of neglect, paired with a campaign showcasing NRM’s successes peace, safe water, electrification, growth. In poverty-stricken Rukungiri, paved roads would boost trade, schools equip the youth (over 60% under 25), and health centers save lives, proving NRM builds where comrades bicker. For too long, Bush War comrades like Lt. Gen. Tumukunde and Maj. Gen. Muhwezi have traded on their historical roles, fueling factionalism and politicking to stay in the limelight while delivering little for the people. This neglect has left Rukungiri lagging, amplifying opposition voices like Dr. Besigye’s.
The complex legacy of comrades has prioritized personal gain over public good, showing that NRM, under your leadership, has failed to deliver. The NRM’s 2021 gains in Rukungiri are overshadowed by service delivery failures and internal rifts, risking a voter backlash in 2026. Supporting youth like Kabano Apollo offers a path to renewal, Change is possible if young leaders harness grassroots energy and address voter priorities, but it requires navigating a complex political landscape. Rukungiri’s future hinges on its people and its president prioritize the district’s sons and daughters over the ghosts of the bush war.
Your Excellency, convening Rukungiri’s NRM leaders to heal internal rifts and present a united front is critical to reclaiming the district. Rukungiri’s poverty has been exploited by Bush War comrades who’ve turned factionalism into a tool for relevance, splitting the party into camps loyal to figures like Muhwezi or Tumukunde rather than to you. This disunity born of their jostling to stay in the limelight has weakened our grassroots structures, handing victories to the opposition in 2016 and 2018. A reconciliation meeting, led by your authority, would force these comrades to set aside personal agendas, aligning them behind a common goal; NRM’s triumph in 2026.
Imagine party leaders old and new working together to lobby for those roads, schools, and health centers, rather than undermining each other for political points. This unity would signal to voters that NRM has moved beyond the petty rivalries of comrades who’ve traded their Bush War credentials for decades of division. In a district where poverty amplifies distrust, a cohesive party could restore faith, showing that NRM prioritizes progress over the egos of a few.
Without this, the opposition will continue to capitalize on our fractures, prolonging Rukungiri’s struggles. Unify channel energy into development, not infighting, restoring faith in a district where poverty amplifies distrust.
Transform Rukungiri into an NRM stronghold. Together, these strategies could transform Rukungiri from a poverty-stricken outlier into an NRM stronghold. Development investments would directly alleviate hardship, better roads boosting trade, schools fostering opportunity, and health centers saving lives while undercutting the opposition’s strongest weapon, the claim of neglect. Unity within the party would ensure these projects succeed, free from the sabotage of factional rivalries. The Bush War comrades who’ve clung to power, like Tumukunde and Muhwezi, have thrived by keeping Rukungiri divided and dependent, using politics as a stage for their fading limelight. By sidelining their influence and focusing on results, you can shift the narrative: NRM delivers where they have faltered.
This will break the cycle of poverty and disillusionment; Your Excellency prove that your leadership outshines their self-interest.
Your Excellency, as for Dr. Kizza Besigye’s fate, his shadow looms large over Rukungiri, a native son who turned from comrade to adversary. At 68years, his opposition thrives on the discontent sown by failing cadres and the district’s poverty, rallying voters with promises of change he’s never had to deliver. His narrative of betrayal casting himself as a Bush War hero sidelined by your administration still resonates, but it’s a fading echo. Time and isolation have worn him down; his repeated electoral losses and legal battles have dimmed his star, even among diehard supporters. Yet, he remains a thorn, exploiting NRM’s weaknesses in Rukungiri to sustain his relevance.
Your Excellency, Rukungiri stands at a crossroads torn by poverty, division, and the self-serving egos of Bush War comrades like Besigye, Muhwezi, and Tumukunde, who’ve traded your vision for personal gain. After 40 years of your transformative leadership, it’s time to unveil the truth and renew NRM’s promise. As you once said in Runyankore, “Bagashirebusha okiriho”. Their absence of results reveals a legacy of neglect; our Team is a pledge for progress. Sidelining these relics, investing in roads, schools, and health centers, and uniting our party will transform Rukungiri into the stronghold it must become by 2026. I offer my voice and vigor to break the cycle of betrayal and deliver your vision where they have failed. The future beckons, let us seize it together.
