The National Resistance Movement (NRM) has dismissed reports suggesting that its presidential candidate, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni will take part in a televised presidential debate scheduled for Sunday 30th and organised by NTV Uganda.
The party was scheduled on Thursday, November 27, 2025, after an advert circulated on social media listing Museveni among the expected participants.
In the statement, the NRM said it only received the invitation on 21 November 2025, by which time the Electoral Commission had already approved and released the official campaign programme.
The party argued that the debate was never presented for prior consultation with candidates and was not included anywhere in the EC-sanctioned schedule.
“Our attention has been drawn to an advert circulating on social media purporting to organise a Presidential Debate and suggesting that the NRM Presidential Candidate will take part,” the party noted.
The party added,“Such a debate was neither brought to the prior consideration of the candidates nor included in the EC-approved programme.”
The NRM further clarified that its candidate would not prepare for or participate in a debate that does not form part of the official campaign roadmap.
“Our Presidential Candidate is therefore not preparing to participate in any such debate,” the statement read.
Despite the NRM’s withdrawal, the televised debate is expected to feature all the other seven approved presidential candidates. These include Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, also known as Bobi Wine, who has already confirmed his attendance; Nathan Nandala Mafabi of the Forum for Democratic Change; Gen. Mugisha Muntu of the Alliance for National Transformation; Joseph Mabirizi of the Conservative Party; Robert Kasibante of the National Peasants Party; Mubarak Munyagwa of the Common Man’s Party; and Frank Bulira of the Revolutionary People’s Party.
Campaign activities across the country remain intense. Bobi Wine is today heading to Jinja, where large crowds are expected as he continues his mobilisation drive in Busoga sub-region.
President Museveni, meanwhile, is campaigning in Kiruhura, a district central to the NRM’s historical support base. His messages in the region have focused on stability, economic growth, and the party’s long-term development record. He has also been reinforcing the need to protect the gains made over the years.
Other candidates are similarly crisscrossing the country with their messages of reform, accountability and transformation.
