The Secretary General of the National Resistance Movement (NRM), Richard Todwong, has announced that more than 1,200 members of the National Unity Platform (NUP) have crossed to the ruling party.
Speaking during the event, Todwong revealed that the defectors openly joined the NRM, many of them arriving in their party T-shirts and carrying NUP membership cards, which they surrendered in public view.
“This was no showdown. A showdown would mean NUP can measure against NRM, which they cannot right now. What we are doing is grooming these new members to understand how political parties are run,” Todwong explained.
He emphasised that even though the defectors came in large numbers, the NRM values each individual who joins its ranks. “For me, I will celebrate even if one person crosses from the opposition to NRM. It doesn’t matter whether they are 1,000 or 1 what matters is their decision to join us,” he said.
Todwong also downplayed the influence of opposition parties, arguing that even collectively, they lack the capacity to sponsor candidates across all electoral positions in the country.
The defection marks another round of opposition members shifting allegiance to the ruling party, which Todwong described as evidence of NRM’s continued strength and organisational stability ahead of the next election cycle.
