Kampala — A group of elected district and city youth councilors from the National Resistance Movement (NRM) have petitioned Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, the party chairman, seeking his intervention to secure compensation for expenses incurred during the recently concluded National Youth Council elections.
The councilors argue that although it has been the NRM’s policy to facilitate candidates participating in youth council elections, they were surprised that no financial support was provided this year despite the high costs involved in the electoral process.
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Speaking to the press in Kampala, Raymond Ocheng, an NRM youth councilor from Tororo District, congratulated President Museveni on his victory in the 2026 general elections, noting that youth leaders played a key role in mobilising grassroots support.
He explained that many youth councilors financed their campaigns through loans, hoping to repay money lenders after receiving refunds from the party.
“We are now at the verge of losing our valuables which we presented as security. Some of us have started hiding from money lenders for fear of being arrested,” Ocheng said.
Fred Mugwanya, a youth councilor from Kiboga District, said they had previously petitioned several leaders at the party secretariat but had not received any response, prompting them to appeal directly to the party chairman through the media.
He noted that most youth councilors are aged between 18 and 30 years and many are unemployed, making it difficult to finance the elections independently.
Meanwhile, Nyakecho Leticia, a district women councilor from Tororo, highlighted the high cost of facilitating voters across wide constituencies.
“I operate in 42 sub-counties with 190 parishes, each with nine voters whom we facilitate and transport, which is very expensive,” she said.
Several councilors also said they contested in areas where voters assumed that candidates from the ruling party had sufficient financial backing, which they say was not the case.
Despite their grievances, the group — drawn from various cities and districts across the country — emphasized their continued loyalty to the party but urged its leadership to address their concerns.
Emmanuel Dombo, the Director of Information and Publicity at the NRM Secretariat in his media appearances, has been confirming that facilitation funds were issued to different party offices and advised those who did not receive support to exhaust internal party mechanisms before raising the issue publicly, warning that public complaints could tarnish the party’s image.
