The Council for Abavandimwe has revealed that its endorsement of President Yoweri Museveni in the 2026 elections was driven by what it described as a decisive executive intervention on citizenship disputes that had left some of its members “stateless.”
In a statement, the council’s chairman Frank M. Gashumba said the group backed Museveni after he directed that the determination of Ugandan citizenship should not be left solely to immigration authorities and the National Identification and Registration Authority, but should also involve elders and local leaders.
“We took that decision because President Museveni issued an Executive order to solve the problem of violation of our citizenship rights,” Gashumba said.
He claimed members of the community had previously faced discrimination, mistreatment and difficulties proving their nationality before the President’s intervention.
“Before his intervention, we had moved to every office seeking a solution to no avail and we had been rendered stateless,” he said.
The council said it formally endorsed Museveni on August 15, 2025, during an event held at Serena Hotel before embarking on a nationwide mobilization campaign that included billboards, radio and television endorsements, and participation in presidential rallies.
Gashumba said the group deployed “all tools of mobilization” to canvass support for Museveni, whom he credited with winning the election with 71 percent of the vote.
The statement also praised Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the Uganda People's Defence Forces and other security agencies for what the council described as the most peaceful elections in Uganda’s history.