Buganda must take back its NRM - Otafiire

Gen. Kahinda Otafiire, one of the founding leaders of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) and the National Resistance Army (NRA), has admonished the people of Buganda for what he views as their collective abandonment of the ruling party.

Speaking at the launch of the book, “The Journey to Remember,” authored by Maj. Gen (Rtd) Elly Kayanja at Hotel Africana, Gen. Otafiire said he felt a sense of betrayal and perplexity regarding Buganda's current relationship with the NRM.

“The people of Buganda, I am amazed at how you could build something powerful and throw it all away,” he remarked

He reminded the audience that the NRM’s existence came at a heavy cost to the people of Buganda. 

“The NRM belongs to the people of Buganda. You are the ones who suffered and died and lost everything for it to exist.”

The NRM saw a decline in its support and performance in the Buganda region during the last general elections in January 2021, winning 31 parliamentary seats.

The region became a stronghold for the opposition, particularly the newly formed National Unity Platform (NUP) led by Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (Bobi Wine), who himself is from the region. 

The NUP swept a large number of the seats, especially in and around the central areas like Kampala and Wakiso

Otafiire noted that the NRM was intrinsically Buganda’s, having been formed by individuals operating within the Luwero Triangle—a territory he directly identified with the people under the authority of the Kabaka.

 “The NRM was formed by people who were in the Luwero Triangle, and these are all Kabaka’s people, and therefore Baganda.”

He stressed that the Baganda should not have to pay or be sold what is already their birthright. 

“You have to come back and reclaim it,” he asserted. He called on them to actively stand up against what he termed as attempts by others to “soil your party,” reinforcing the idea that the NRM’s foundational identity is rooted in Buganda’s struggle and sacrifice during the 1981–1986 war.