Appearing on NBS Television’s Morning Breeze, Katongole said the National Resistance Movement (NRM) had learnt lessons from its heavy defeat in the 2021 polls, when the opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) swept most of the parliamentary seats in the capital.
“Kampala was red in 2020 but I can guarantee you that red has faded. We didn’t take our loss in Kampala in 2021 lightly,” Katongole said.
In the last election, NUP secured a strong foothold in Kampala and other urban centres, riding on a wave of youthful support that saw NRM stalwarts pushed aside.
Among those who lost was then Minister for Kampala, Beti Kamya, who was defeated in Rubaga North by NUP’s Abubaker Kawalya. Kawalya won with 39,847 votes against Kamya’s 14,003.
Katongole, who will challenge Kawalya in 2026, believes the opposition has disappointed voters.
“There is nothing NUP has done. Some of their MPs haven’t even appeared to their constituents. That’s not what they promised,” he argued.
He further claimed that the NUP influence in Kampala is on the decline.
“What happened in 2021 hit us hard. You will see that next year, Kampala will be yellow,” he said.