By Jamillah Kemigisa
Mbarara City’s political chessboard has undergone a dramatic realignment following the abrupt withdrawal of two heavyweight aspirants — Bonny Kashaija Mutungi and Michael Tusiime — from the forthcoming general election’s independent race.
Both figures, former National Resistance Movement (NRM) primary contenders, had been gearing up to challenge the party’s official flag bearers, a move widely perceived as potentially fracturing the ruling party’s vote bank in the city. Their sudden retreat was precipitated by a closed-door meeting with President Yoweri Museveni earlier this week, during which they were reportedly persuaded to forgo their independent ambitions in favour of high-profile government deployments.
Mutungi has already been appointed Deputy National Coordinator of the Parish Development Model (PDM), a flagship anti-poverty initiative designed to spur household incomes through enhanced agricultural productivity, direct parish-level resource disbursement, and small-enterprise support. Her appointment is seen as an effort to bolster the programme’s visibility and execution in western Uganda.
Tusiime — an economist and former Member of Parliament for Mbarara Municipality — has likewise set aside his electoral ambitions. Although his exact portfolio remains undisclosed, party insiders hint at a senior appointment in the economic planning or governance sphere. Tusiime’s previous tenure on the Parliamentary Committee on Finance earned him plaudits for his acumen in fiscal and policy oversight.
Political observers interpret these manoeuvres as part of President Museveni’s broader strategy to pre-empt internal fissures within NRM strongholds ahead of the 2026 general election. By absorbing influential and independent-minded politicians into state structures, the party both consolidates its dominance and harnesses their expertise for national programmes.
Reactions on the ground have been mixed. While NRM loyalists hail the move as a pragmatic step toward party cohesion, sections of the electorate who anticipated alternative voices on the ballot have voiced disappointment.
As campaigning intensifies, the withdrawals of Mutungi and Tusiime are expected to ease pressure on official NRM candidates, reshaping the dynamics of Mbarara City’s electoral contest and reinforcing the ruling party’s grip on the region.
Mutungi and Tusiime are no strangers to the city’s political arena. Mutungi, a long-time NRM mobiliser, built her clout through expansive grassroots networks before contesting the party primaries, while Tusiime, who represented Mbarara Municipality between 2016 and 2021, is best remembered for his contributions to national fiscal debates. Their now-abandoned independent bids had sparked fears of vote fragmentation that could have offered opposition candidates a rare opening in a ruling-party bastion.
