Africa-Press – Uganda. National Economic Empowerment Dialogue (NEED) party president Joseph Kabuleta has dismissed claims that his party has joined a coalition supporting President Yoweri Museveni’s 2026 re-election bid, describing the allegations as false and part of a wider plot to capture his party.
In a statement issued on Friday, Kabuleta refuted Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja’s announcement that NEED was among political parties that had pledged to back President Museveni in the upcoming polls.
“There’s a message from Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja claiming that the National Economic Empowerment Dialogue (NEED) party, for which I am president, is part of a cluster of parties that have agreed to support incumbent Museveni in the upcoming elections. Not true,” Kabuleta wrote.
The former presidential candidate accused the government and elements within what he called a “fake opposition” of attempting to co-opt his party to advance the ruling National Resistance Movement’s (NRM) agenda.
“There have been countless attempts to recruit me into a ‘fake opposition’ that is silently working to entrench the Museveni dynasty. I have consistently resisted them,” he said.
Kabuleta revealed that he withdrew NEED from the Holy Alliance, a coalition of opposition groups, after discovering that some members had allegedly received money from government-linked actors.
He singled out the party’s former Secretary General, Charles Basajja, accusing him of collaborating with the establishment.
“The people that accepted that deal (particularly former Secretary General Charles Basajja) have since been expelled from the party, but that hasn’t stopped him from masquerading as a party official,” Kabuleta alleged.
The NEED president further accused Special Forces Command (SFC) operatives of interfering in the party’s internal affairs, claiming they stormed Electoral Commission offices to block his nomination as a presidential candidate.
“They want to forcefully put NEED under the armpits of NRM/PLU,” he said, adding that as long as he remains party president — a term he said runs until May 2030 — NEED will not align with the ruling government.
“NEED and myself will never be part of fake opposition. We are a force for positive change, and we encourage our supporters to reject Museveni family rule,” Kabuleta declared.
Kabuleta’s remarks came a day after a statement attributed to NEED’s National Executive Committee, led by Charles Basajja, disassociated the party from any coalition with Museveni but also recognised Ogemba Shadrack as party leader — a claim Kabuleta dismissed as illegitimate.
Basajja said the purported endorsement of Museveni was “politically dishonest and designed as blackmail to score post-election survival.”
He added that such decisions can only be made by the party’s legitimate executive committee.
“The post’s implication of NEED’s support is factually inaccurate and politically dishonest. NEED remains committed to changing the status quo from this four-decades-long rule,” Basajja said.
The party’s internal divisions — marked by rival leadership claims, expulsions, and accusations of financial misconduct — have dogged NEED since its formation in 2022.
Kabuleta, who founded the party after his 2021 presidential bid, has faced repeated suspension attempts from dissenting factions.
The turmoil has weakened NEED’s influence ahead of the 2026 polls, where Kabuleta is expected to seek nomination again as a presidential contender.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nabbanja confirmed that several political parties had met her at the Office of the Prime Minister to declare support for President Museveni’s re-election campaign.
“I congratulate the political parties that have formed a coalition and pledged to support Kaguta Museveni in the ongoing presidential election campaigns. The leaders of these parties paid a courtesy call on me this evening at OPM,” Nabbanja said.
She listed the participating parties as the Republic Women and Youth Party, Liberal Democratic Transparency (LDT), National Economic Empowerment Dialogue (NEED), Revolutionary People’s Party (RPP), and the Congress Service Volunteers Organisation (COSEVO), among others.
Nabbanja also commended National Consultative Forum (NCF) chairperson Godfrey Kiwanda Ssuubi for mobilising the coalition, calling it “a constitutional alliance formed to support a leader who has contributed to Uganda’s development.”
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