PLU speaks on NRM rejecting Muhoozi succession bid

Kasambya County Member of Parliament and Head of PLU  Chairman’s  office Daudi Kabanda has dismissed a report that senior NRM leaders rejected a proposal to back Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba as President Yoweri Museveni’s successor in 2031.

Kabanda, the executive secretary in the Office of the National Chairman of the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU), responded to a CGTN Africa post on X. He also represents Kasambya County in parliament.

“This is false information,” Kabanda wrote.

CGTN had cited an AFP report based on accounts from five party sources. They claimed senior members opposed the proposal during a closed-door meeting of the NRM’s Central Executive Committee on November 10, 2026.

According to AFP, officials abandoned a vote on Kainerugaba’s proposed candidature after several members challenged the plan. The sources said four members had voted in favour and three against before the vote stopped.

Kabanda’s brief response did not explain which parts of the report he disputed. He offered no alternative account of the meeting.

The competing accounts bring fresh attention to the succession debate within the ruling party. Kainerugaba serves as Chief of Defence Forces and chairs PLU, whose supporters have begun mobilising for his proposed presidential bid.

On September 1, 2026, Kabanda announced that Kainerugaba would contest the presidency in 2031. He said the general had instructed him to communicate the decision.

Kabanda later said that Museveni had endorsed Kainerugaba during an NRM CEC meeting on October 27, 2026.

PLU has also organised village mobilisation and endorsement drives.