Politics
NRM Youth Leaders Petition Museveni Over Election Fraud, Call for Urgent Intervention
A group of elected National Resistance Movement (NRM) youth leaders have petitioned President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, raising serious concerns over what they described as fraud, manipulation, and abuse of internal democracy in the ongoing NRM youth elections.
In a strongly worded letter dated August 26, 2025, the leaders accused the President’s brother, Michael Nuwagira Kaguta, commonly known as “Toyota,” of fueling disorganisation by allegedly imposing candidates and using illicit funds from gold trade to influence the process. According to the petitioners, Toyota has been presenting certain individuals as “state candidates” and compelling the youth to back them, undermining the popular will of young NRM members.
“It is with deep cries that we write to you as youth leaders of this country. We are deeply concerned about the current state of youth elections. Your brother, Mr. Toyota, has completely disorganised our youth with money he gets from ‘trading gold,’ and this is killing internal democracy,” the letter reads in part.
The youth leaders noted that Toyota had worked with sections of security officials and the NRM Secretariat to impose candidates, including Mercy Katwesigye and Kakwanzi Elizabeth, for the positions of National Female Youth MP and Western Youth MP. They allege that these candidates lack genuine grassroots support but are being forced on the youth structures.
The petition further claims that fraudulent practices, including the issuing of fake accreditation tags, have marred the electoral process. According to the youth leaders, individuals from Makerere University, who are not part of the NRM youth electoral college, were given voting tags, while over 200 fake names were smuggled into the official NRM register.
“This completely kills democracy, and all these they purport that you are the one guiding,g and the Secretariat is just implementing. Most real delegates were not even given accreditation cards, but many fake delegates have those cards,” the petitioners said.
The leaders also expressed concern over attempts to alter agreed election procedures. They reminded Museveni that during the recent Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting, it was resolved that voting should be conducted by lining up and verifying using national identity cards. However, they allege that Toyota’s group is pushing for the use of fake tags and plans to conduct voting at night to facilitate rigging.
“In case they cannot steal and the youth become vigilant, they want to postpone the election so that they tell you that the youth became violent. The position of the youth is they want to vote today and leave to their homes since no allowance even came from the Secretariat last night for another added day,” the letter states.
The youth leaders warned that election postponements impose heavy financial losses on candidates, many of whom had already spent significant resources in anticipation of the polls. They thanked Museveni for previously rejecting attempts to postpone parliamentary elections and urged him to exercise the same firmness in protecting the credibility of youth polls.
They also accused some security officers of taking sides and intimidating youth leaders, warning that such practices further erode trust in the internal processes of the party.
In their concluding appeal, the youth leaders made several demands aimed at restoring credibility in the elections. They called on Museveni to ensure that voting takes place openly at the district level, with registrars reading out names in the presence of all delegates. They proposed the use of national IDs to verify voters, with cross-checking against the ISO register, which they described as “more credible without any additions or subtractions.”
“Where there is an omission and everyone in the district knows this youth leader as their election leader, they should correct the register and allow the youth to vote. Districts should vote per district in the same designated place when everyone is watching to have a free and fair election. After the end of voting, the results should immediately be declared,” the petitioners wrote.
They also demanded that Toyota and his associates, including a figure identified as “Emma of Gold,” withdraw from youth politics, accusing them of corrupting internal processes.
The petition, signed by Guma Twinamasiko, an elected NRM youth leader, was copied to senior party officials, including the NRM Vice Chairman, Minister for Presidency, NRM Secretary General, Chairman of the NRM Electoral Commission, the NRM Central Executive Committee, the Director of Finance and Administration, security heads, and party media teams.
The appeal underscores mounting internal tensions in the ruling party, with young leaders warning that if fraudulent practices persist, NRM risks losing the trust of its most dynamic constituency—the youth. As of press time, the NRM Secretariat had not issued an official response to the allegations.
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