NRM leaders fight over recruitment of village youth cadres to counter Bobi Wine

The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party is in turmoil following a directive from the chairman, who also doubles as the President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, to recruit 200,000 cadres at all villages around the country.

A directive from the President through the NRM chairman’s office was issued on May 15 to recruit at least three cadres in each village.

The cadres; One male, a female all below 35 years and one more adult above 35 years, are reportedly supposed to subscribe to the NRM party and help sensitise fellow villagers on the operation wealth creation campaign.

In total, at least 200,000 cadres were directed recruited through the chairman’s office and the project placed under a one Kirunda Farouk and Milly Babalanda.

The news however did not go well with the party’s Secretary General Kasule Lumumba, who chose to distance from the move as well as thwart it in the media.

Following the directive, Lumumba also issued a statement distancing the party from such recruitment.

“There is no formal decision or directive of any Organ of the National Resistance Movement made specifically to identify and/or recruit the three (3) cadres per village; as is being implied in some of the social media platforms mentioned above,” Lumumba said in the statement issued May 24.

“As the custodian of the minutes of Organs of the National Resistance Movement, inclusive of the Central Executive Committee meetings, I can state with no fear of contradiction, that the above recruitment drive is certainly not part of the 7-point Chobe Resolutions,” she added.

The NRM Electoral Commission chairman, Tanga Odoi in a different address has blasted Lumumba, claiming she had no right to contradict the President’s directive.

“Who is she to contradict the chairman of the party and go against CEC? If the chairman made a mistake, Lumumba has not right to run to the press, she meets the president more often, she should meet him and discuss the matter. This is nonsense and must stop,” Tanga said.

“If you are given a small coat don’t make it bigger, She (Lumumba) has failed to pay staff at the secretariat for five months, just 20 staff. Now she is criticising the head of state and I wont keep quiet. Those simplicities should stop.”

Tanga said the president is on the right course to recruit cadres in villages for the operation wealth creation campaign.

A source close to the chairman’s office confides that the recruitment exercise is targeting youth as a way of countering Kyadondo East legislator, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu aliss Bobi Wne, and his People Power pressure group.

The trouble however stems from the fact that the President has skipped Lumumba and instead channeled resources and authority to his office.

According to Tanga, there is no disagreement yet.

“We don’t have any internal issues; we just have people who don’t know how to handle administration. There is not crisis.”

The party however insists that the president has not started campaigns per se, and the recruitments are only meant for Museveni’s operation wealth creation campaign.

“Had Museveni said to any one that vote me? No, he is meeting people through his mandate as President and only telling people to get out of poverty. This group is meant for the same,” a party official said.