Africa-Press – Uganda. On September 13th, 2025, the 5th Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) held its first meeting, resolving to hold elections for the Youth and Entrepreneurs League on Thursday, September 18th.
James Kinobe, NRM CEC Commissioner, said the party has set aside approximately 24 youth positions and involved multiple stakeholders to ensure transparency. He emphasised that the party itself will facilitate the exercise to curb the monetisation of politics.
But even as the party prepares, youth aspirants continue to raise sharp concerns about fairness, inclusion, and transparency.
Ezra Byakutangaza, a Youth MP Aspirant for Western Uganda, argued that unresolved issues from the cancelled youth election results remain unaddressed.
“As youths, we are left asking: Are we truly a priority in this party? There’s a significant segment of young people who feel excluded. We don’t even have a proper system to track registers, and that’s a serious concern,” he said.
National Female Youth MP aspirant Gold Ikyiriza expressed dissatisfaction with the process. “I respectfully disagree with the CEC decision. As young people, we had no representation. There’s a clear disconnect between us, the aspirants, and the delegates,” she stated.
Ikyiriza also questioned whether President Museveni’s earlier pledge to preside over youth elections across 151 districts is still realistic.
“If youth are excluded, is the party auctioning positions to the wealthy? The system lacks transparency, especially for peasant candidates,” she added.
Eastern Youth MP aspirant John Baptist Ouma said decentralising the elections to the district level might not resolve underlying issues.
“We’re not demanding a perfect election; we’re asking for a free and fair one. Our request is for the chairman to be present during the conduct of this election,” he noted.
Byakutangaza, however, criticised the party’s heavy reliance on the chairman.
“It’s disappointing that, 40 years on, the NRM still relies heavily on the party chairman. The party should function independently, with his involvement only in extreme cases. The number of independent candidates is rising, and unfortunately, competent leaders are being forced to compete against each other,” he remarked.
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