Uganda’s ruling party NRM endorses President Museveni as flag bearer for 2026 election

Uganda’s National Resistance Movement (NRM) has endorsed President Yoweri Museveni as its candidate for the upcoming presidential election in 2026 and his 7th term as leader of the East African nation.

The 80 year old president accepted the nomination in a speech to the party’s delegate conference in Kampala.

He expressed appreciation to the party for putting its trust in him once again.

Museveni first took power in 1986 as head of a rebel force.

He has since been elected six times, after securing constitutional amendments to remove presidential term limits and an age cap.

Should he win in January, it would bring him close to five decades in power in the East African nation.

Museveni also used the occasion to tout his party’s achievements:

He said “What is in this booklet is what the NRM has achieved, when we came in, we knew exactly what to do and that’s why the economy of Uganda has recovered. And as I speak today, we have gone through five phases.”

Museveni says criticism of his long stay in power is unjustified because he is re-elected every five years.

His main opponent in the last election was the singer-turned-politician Bobi Wine, who has also declared his candidacy in the polls set for January.