The National Resistance Movement ( sw, Harakati za Upinzani za Kitaifa; abbr. NRM) has been the

ruling party The ruling party or governing party in a democratic parliamentary or presidential system is the political party or coalition holding a majority of elected positions in a parliament, in the case of parliamentary systems, or holding the executive ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

since 1986.

History

The National Resistance Movement (NRM) was founded as a liberation movement that waged a guerrilla war through its rebel wing

National Resistance Army The National Resistance Army (NRA), the military wing of the National Resistance Movement (NRM), was a rebel army that waged a guerrilla war, commonly referred to as the Ugandan Bush War or Luwero War, against the government of Milton Obote, and l ...

(NRA) that toppled the government in 1986. According to the National Resistance Movement, it restored political stability, security, law and order,

constitutionalism Constitutionalism is "a compound of ideas, attitudes, and patterns of behavior elaborating the principle that the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law". Political organizations are constitutional ...

and the rule of law to Uganda.

Leadership

The party's leader,

Yoweri Museveni Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 1944) is a Ugandan politician and retired senior military officer who has been the 9th and current President of Uganda since 26 January 1986. Museveni spearheaded rebellions with aid of then ...

was involved in the war that deposed

Idi Amin Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern w ...

, ending his rule in 1979, and in the rebellion that subsequently led to the demise of the

Milton Obote Apollo Milton Obote (28 December 1925 – 10 October 2005) was a Ugandan political leader who led Uganda to independence from British colonial rule in 1962. Following the nation's independence, he served as prime minister of Uganda from 1962 to ...

regime in 1985; however, parallels have been drawn between the NRM and its predecessors. For instance, the NRM-sponsored Public Order Management Bill is strikingly similar to the 1967 Public Order and Security Act, codified by the Obote regime, in that both bills "seek to gag dissenting views." Museveni's statements are also reminiscent of Uganda's dictatorial past: "Whoever tries to cause problems, we finish them. Besigye n opposition leadertried to disorganize Kampala and we gave him a little tear gas and he calmed down. He didn't need a bullet, just a little gas." Further, as he once stated that "the problem of Africa in general and Uganda in particular is not the people but leaders who want to overstay in power," some have viewed his move to abolish presidential term limits as hypocritical. In the past, The NRM has been praised for bringing relative stability and economic growth to a country that has endured decades of government mismanagement, rebel activity and

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

; however, with an unemployment rate of 62% among the youth, his economic effectiveness has seriously come into question. His tenure has witnessed one of the most effective national responses to

HIV/AIDS in Africa HIV/AIDS originated in Africa in the early 20th century and is a major public health concern and cause of death in many African countries. AIDS rates vary significantly between countries, though the majority of cases are concentrated in Souther ...

. In the mid-to-late 1990s, Museveni was lauded by

the West West is a cardinal direction or compass point. West or The West may also refer to: Geography and locations Global context * The Western world * Western culture and Western civilization in general * The Western Bloc, countries allied with NATO ...

as part of a

new generation of African leaders The term "new generation" or "new breed" of African leaders was a buzzword widely used in the mid-late 1990s to express optimism in a new generation of African leadership. It has since fallen out of favor, along with several of the leaders the te ...

. His presidency has been marred, however, by invading and occupying Congo during the Second Congo War (the war in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

which has resulted in an estimated 5.4 million deaths since 1998) and other conflicts in the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

region. Recent developments, including the abolition of presidential term limits before the 2006 elections, Museveni's confirmation of the NRM-sponsored Public Order Management Bill — a bill which severely limits freedom of assembly — NRM media censorship and the persecution of democratic opposition (i.e. general intimidation of voters by security forces; arresting opposition candidates; extrajudicial killings) have attracted concern from domestic and foreign commentators. Most recently, indicators of an alleged succession to the President's son,

Muhoozi Kainerugaba Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba (born 24 April 1974) is an Ugandan general and son of president Yoweri Museveni. He has been commander of the Special Forces Command (SFC) from 2008 to 2017, and again from December 2020 to 2021, then commander of the l ...

, have increased tensions. Allegations regarding significant corruption have also shaped criticism of the NRM government. According to the U.S. State Department's 2012 Human Rights Report on Uganda, "The World Bank's most recent Worldwide Governance Indicators reflected corruption was a severe problem" and that "the country annually loses 768.9 billion shillings ($286 million) to corruption." Understandably, Uganda was ranked 140th out of 176 nations on the

Corruption Perceptions Index The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is an index which ranks countries "by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys." The CPI generally defines corruption as an "abuse of entru ...

. A specific scandal, which had significant international consequences and highlighted the presence of corruption in high-level government offices, was the embezzlement of $12.6 mil in donor funds from the Office of the Prime Minister in 2012. These funds were "earmarked as crucial support for rebuilding northern Uganda, ravaged by a 20-year war, and Karamoja, Uganda's poorest region." This scandal prompted the E.U., The U.K., Germany, Denmark, Ireland and Norway to suspend aid. What may compound this problem — as it does in many developing nations (as per the

resource curse The resource curse, also known as the paradox of plenty or the poverty paradox, is the phenomenon of countries with an abundance of natural resources (such as fossil fuels and certain minerals) having less economic growth, less democracy, or worse ...

) — is an abundance of oil. The Petroleum Bill — passed by the Ugandan Parliament in 2012 — which was touted by the NRM as bringing transparency to the oil sector has, failed to please domestic and international political commentators and economists. For instance, Angelo Izama, a Ugandan energy analyst at the U.S.-based Open Society Foundation said the new law was tantamount to "handing over an ATM (cash) machine" to Museveni and his regime. According to Global Witness, an international law NGO, Uganda now has "oil reserves that have the potential to double the government's revenue within six to ten years, worth an estimated US$2.4bn per year." Other contentious bills have been sponsored, passed and confirmed by the NRM government during his tenure. For example, The Non Governmental Organizations (Amendment) Act, passed in 2006, has stifled the productivity of NGOs through erecting barriers to entry, activity, funding and assembly within the sector. Burdensome and corrupt registration procedures (i.e. requiring recommendations from government officials; annual re-registration), unreasonable regulation of operations (i.e. requiring government notification prior to making contact with individuals in NGO's area of interest), and the precondition that all foreign funds be passed through the Bank of Uganda, among other things, are severely limiting the output of the NGO sector. Furthermore, the sector's freedom of speech has been continually infringed upon through the use of intimidation, and the recent Public Order Management Bill (severely limiting freedom of assembly) will only add to the government's stockpile of ammunition.The International Center for Not-For-Profit Law. (2012)
NGO Law Monitor: Uganda

Electoral performance

The party began as the political body associated with the rebel

before Museveni came to power in 1986. Until a referendum in 2005, Uganda held elections on a non-party basis. The NRM currently has a majority in the Ugandan parliament, a position it has maintained since 1996. The presidential elections of 12 March 2001 were won by

of the NRM with 69.3% of the popular vote. On 17 November 2005, Museveni was elected unopposed as NRM's presidential candidate for the 2006 elections. In the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

of 23 February 2006, the party won 205 out of 289 elected seats. In the presidential election of the same date, Museveni won 59.3% of the vote. In the 2016 general election, the party won 293 out of 426 seats, and Museveni was reelected president with 56.62% of the vote.

Mbabazi split

National Resistance Movement secretary general Hon. Amama Mbabazi fell out with party chairman Yoweri Museveni just before 2016 general elections. Museveni sacked Mbabazi for having declared interest in running against him to the party chairmanship. Mbabazi left and formed his political movement the GO FORWARD group.

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Parliament of Uganda elections

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control 1986 establishments in Uganda Political parties established in 1986 Political parties in Uganda Rebel groups in Uganda Yoweri Museveni Social conservative parties National conservative parties