Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa has castigated National Resistance Movement cadres who hold influential offices but perform poorly, warning that their complacency often leads to costly political mistakes that ultimately leave President Museveni carrying the electoral burden.
Tayebwa made the remarks as more than 200 opposition leaders and candidates from the Forum for Democratic Change and the National Unity Platform in the Teso sub-region officially crossed to the NRM, citing renewed confidence in Museveni’s leadership and the ruling party’s development agenda.
With the country edging closer to another election season, Tayebwa said the ruling party must move beyond rhetoric and focus on performance, accountability and grassroots mobilisation, particularly by those entrusted with public office.
He said some NRM members occupying senior positions had abandoned their mobilisation role, misused their offices and failed to remain connected to the electorate, creating gaps that the opposition had been quick to exploit.
According to Tayebwa, it is such “sleeping cadres” who make avoidable mistakes during the political cycle, only for the President to feel the consequences when voters head to the ballot.
The defectors said poverty and unemployment had driven them into the opposition in previous years, but argued that the ruling party offered a more credible platform for addressing socio-economic challenges in the region.
They pledged to mobilise massive support for Museveni and boldly assured him of a landslide victory of up to 99 percent in the Teso sub-region in the forthcoming elections.
Tayebwa welcomed the new members but cautioned that numbers alone would not guarantee victory, stressing that genuine service delivery, integrity and active engagement with communities were critical to sustaining political support.
He pledged to work with the defectors to address their grievances and strengthen party structures, urging them to translate their political shift into tangible mobilisation on the ground.
The former opposition candidates, for their part, committed to rallying their supporters, reinforcing NRM structures and countering opposition influence at the grassroots as part of their pledge to secure overwhelming support for Museveni in the region.
