Former intelligence chief General David Sejusa has accused the National Resistance Movement (NRM) of undermining democracy after opposition candidates challenging Speaker Anita Among and Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa were prevented from nominations.
Sejusa described the unfolding events as a shameful assault on democracy and warned that Uganda’s political system is sliding into a culture of fear, manipulation and intimidation.
Speaker Among and Tayebwa, two of Parliament’s most powerful figures, are now set to return unopposed, an outcome that, according to Sejusa, exposes the moral decay within the ruling establishment.
In Ruhinda North County, Mitooma District, NUP candidate Osbert Kato revealed that Electoral Commission (EC) officials deliberately obstructed his nomination.
“I arrived early with all my forms and supporters,” Kato said.
He added, “After submitting my documents, they told me to step outside. Later, they returned my papers, saying they needed NINs for everyone, and then they started checking each one until lunch. By the time they resumed, the nomination window had closed.”
Tayebwa, meanwhile was confirmed unopposed earlier that same morning; a timing that has sparked suspicions of political interference at the EC’s local office.,
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Gen. Sejusa expressed outrage and called the situation disgraceful and questioning the logic of unopposed victories.
“And my brother Richard finds this funny? These UPC games are stupid and a shame. Why would a politician want to pass unopposed in the first place? Absolute bonkers!” he wrote.
Sejusa argued that true leaders must earn their mandate through open competition and public scrutiny not through exclusion or manipulation.
“If President Museveni, at his age, still campaigns across the country to defend his mandate, why would younger politicians fear facing voters?” he asked.
He urged the NRM to clean its house and restore internal democratic discipline.
The controversy follows a similar incident in Bukedea, where Among’s main challenger, NUP’s Asio Florence reportedly disappeared on her way to nomination. Across several districts, opposition candidates were allegedly removed from voter registers or denied access to nomination centers.
EC spokesperson Julius Mucunguzi urged aggrieved aspirants to file formal complaints, maintaining the commission’s commitment to transparency.
But criticism continues to mount as top NRM figures repeatedly secure unopposed wins ahead of major elections. Both Among and Tayebwa, former FDC members who joined the ruling party, now symbolize the NRM’s tight control of parliamentary power.
Sejusa further said that a democracy that fears competition is already dying and Uganda deserves leaders brave enough to face their people but not hide behind manipulation and fear.
