A political storm is currently brewing in Laroo-Pece Division in Gulu City following widespread speculation that the Democratic Party (DP) president general, Mr Norbert Mao, intends to contest for the Pece-Laroo Member of Parliament (MP) seat in the 2026 General Election.
Should the assumption, now trending for more than a fortnight, come to pass, guaranteeing that the incumbent MP Charles Onen retains his seat could be near impossible, especially because Mao is perennially famed in the Acholi Sub-region as a political heavyweight.
Fr Onen, a National Resistance Movement (NRM)-leaning pioneer MP for Pece-Laroo, secured a win in 2021 on an Independent ticket with 6,638 votes after he floored 12 other opponents, including Ms Nancy Atimango (NRM-4,220 votes), National Unity Platform’s Caesar Lubangakene (2,557), Forum for Democratic Change’s Geoffrey Komakech (1,619), DP’s Simon Opoka (698) and former MP Emmanuel Mwaka Lutukumoi (1,098), among others. Before the creation of Gulu City, which birthed Laroo-Pece and Bardege-Layibi divisions, Fr Onen had gained popularity following his anti-NRM political preaching that won the heart of many in the city that was formerly Opposition-dominant.
Whereas many argue that he was a great beneficiary of sympathy voting, his other 12 opponents would later be ranked below average to match his weight.
NRM’s Tonny Kitara, who recently won the party flag for the constituency, had hoped to secure an easy win over Fr Onen after fleeing the Bardege-Layibi race, from where Mr Martin Ojara Mapenduzi floored him in 2021. However, the race is likely to go molten should Mao’s addition materialise.
In February, while appearing on a political show on a local radio in Gulu City, Mao emphasised that he was ready to midwife transition and that he was willing to sacrifice everything for it. ‘I am not sure whether I am going to eat it or not. But it does not matter if transition comes after I am gone,’ Mao said, adding that many people were warning him about dealing with the NRM government, particularly President Museveni. ‘They have been advising me to be careful; they are afraid that I might be harmed. But I tell you, do not worry. Any right-thinking Acholi should fight individuals who are against my mission. I am the only one with the sharp knife who will share the meat with everyone,’ he stated.
Despite the huge support he often enjoyed in Acholi Sub-region, Mao’s support has gradually been dwindling, according to Electoral Commission (EC) data, with support now limited mostly to Gulu District. For example, in 2011 when he contested for the presidency, Mao, a two-time MP for Gulu Municipality, secured 1.8 percent (148,170 votes) countrywide. Of this number, Mao got 82,781 votes (6.24 percent of northern Uganda’s total votes), scoring highest in Gulu District (44.29 percent), trailed by Museveni at 26.85 percent.
However, in the neighbouring Kitgum District, President Museveni floored him with 38.93 percent (17,965 votes) when he scored only 8.04 percent (3,711 votes).
Skipping the 2016 showdown, Mao polled even dismally with support nationally dwindling from 148,170 votes to 57,682 votes (0.56 percent) in the 2021 presidential elections. In the northern region, the figures further dropped by half from 82,781 votes to only 40,688 (2.28 percent), while those of Gulu and Kitgum districts dropped to 11,223 votes and 1,342 votes.
Internal fights
Mao has not come out to openly clarify as true or false the claims being attributed to him, subject to nominations this coming week. However, his decision to back off from the presidential race is speculated to be premised on wanting to protect his party’s interest in Museveni’s 2026-2031 government and the post-Museveni era. On Tuesday, October 14, while addressing DP flag bearers at the party headquarters on Balintuma Road, Kampala, Mao did not hesitate to define the party’s dreams that guide a new covenant seeking to usher in a new transition in Uganda.
In the manifesto document, the party outlined its vision and protocol in tackling critical issues surrounding the transition dialogue after President Museveni announced recently that he was seeking re-election. Besides launching the manifesto that also tackles education, healthcare, poverty, agriculture and infrastructure, among others, Mao revealed to the delegates the structure of the new unity government that he claims DP has been a key contributor to forming.
Besides seeking to advocate for a government of national unity as a base for peaceful transition to minimise the recurrent incidence of violent changes of government in the country, Mao also explained that consultations are going to be held under the Inter-Party Organisation for Dialogue (IPOD) to convene an extraordinary summit to discuss post-Museveni era, whom he said is now aged and needs a clear plan for his exit.
‘We shall have a new constitution resulting from a negotiated Uganda in which all parts that constitute 16 regions of Uganda feel included as equal shareholders from Ankole, Tooro, Bugisu, Kigezi, Buganda, Busoga, Karamoja, West Nile and the northern region, among others,’ he reportedly told the sitting. Such dealings with the NRM have, of late, had him caught up in a series of no-love-lost-no-love-found scenarios with a section of his own party leadership plotting and threatening to isolate him due to his dining with the ruling party.
For example, in May, Mao stirred a hornet’s nest when he invited Gen Caleb Akandwanaho, aka Salim Saleh, to officiate at DP’s national executive committee gathering at his home in Coopil village, Unyama Sub-county, Gulu, during which he challenged the party’s central organ to continue working with the NRM party to leverage Ugandans into the money economy. Gen Saleh, who is the chief coordinator of Operation Wealth Creation, a poverty-eradication programme, acknowledged DP’s efforts in backing the government to eradicate poverty.
The meeting, which was widely condemned by a fraction of DP senior leadership, was staged a few days before the party’s delegates’ conference held in Mbarara City. It was meant to resolve DP’s internal squabbles that have always threatened to rip it apart. Mr Michael Bayigga Lulume, a DP MP, said the meeting is proof of how Mr Mao and his group have attempted to sell off the party to the ruling NRM government. ‘Certainly, it will impact negatively on Mao and his group. We have been telling the people that Mao sold the party, and nobody wanted to believe, including the media, and today you saw it. Mao will get his disciplinary action once we reach Mbarara once and for all.’ Mr Bayigga said.
Jumping out of 2021 race
While in January, the party rubbished claims that it was plotting a political alliance with the NRM government ahead of the 2026 General Election, saying the two parties have distinct visions for Uganda as they approach the 2026 elections, Mao’s recent move seemed to have reversed the position when he declared he would not contest for the presidency. Last month, he explained that his party’s decision not to present a presidential candidate in the upcoming elections was one driven by a mix of financial constraints and political strategy aimed at backing the NRM party.
‘A presidential campaign requires substantial funding. By directing these resources to parliamentary and local government races, we can achieve better results. We have to be practical about Uganda’s political environment,’ he said. At an earlier national executive committee (NEC) meeting in Rubaga, Kampala, the decision, he said, was birthed after being primarily influenced by the memorandum of understanding signed with the ruling NRM in 2021, which also resulted in Mao’s appointment as minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.
It is not the first time that DP has not presented a presidential candidate since the return of political pluralism two decades ago. In the 2016 presidential elections, under Mao’s presidency, the party supported Go Forward’s John Patrick Amama Mbabazi. Whereas DP had initially picked presidential nomination forms on August 28 and expressed confidence in offering Uganda a peaceful transition of power, its NEC ultimately assessed the party’s chances of winning the presidency as “slim” under the current circumstances. He also reasoned that the move was not only to avoid fragmenting the Opposition vote but also to promote peaceful and credible elections.
This publication established that DP is currently embroiled in internal wrangles that have cost the party its membership across the country, with a section of its MPs exiting to join other parties. The disagreements escalated ahead of the 2021 elections when several DP members crossed to the Opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) party. These include Nyendo-Mukungwe MP Mathias Mpuuga, Mukono Municipality MP Betty Nambooze, Mr Muwanga Kivumbi (Butambala County), Mr Allan Ssewanyana (Makindye West), Mr Medard Sseggona (Busiro County), Mr Joseph Ssewungu (Kalungu West) and Mr Ssempala Kigozi (former Makindye Ssabagabo), among others.
The signing of the cooperation agreement by Mao and a section of DP’s top leaders with the NRM party in 2022 further compounded the tensions after securing an appointment in the NRM government Cabinet as Justice minister. Among other DP officials who secured key jobs from the NRM government were party secretary general Gerald Siranda, who secured an East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) job, causing several party MPs to oppose Mao’s leadership. The cooperation agreement was meant to foster constitutionalism, uphold human rights, and ensure a peaceful transition of power, but with the upcoming 2026 General Election, several DP MPs have cast doubt on the viability of the cooperation.
For example, on April 7, DP deputy president Fred Mukasa Mbidde wrote to Mao over his withdrawal from the agreement he described as controversial. ‘As you are aware, I proposed a significant motion to initiate the process of terminating our cooperation agreement with the National Resistance Movement,’ he said. Mao, who has been at the helm of one of the oldest parties since 2010, sought another five-year term as president general, in which he succeeded amid a violent national delegates’ conference and election held in Mbarara in June.
What next for Mao?
Meanwhile, Mao has not come out to openly speak about his intentions to contest in Pece-Laroo Division or respond to rumours circulating on social media about his alleged positioning as a possible Speaker of Parliament or Vice President. Our repeated attempts to reach out to Mao for a comment through telephone calls and text messages were futile since he did not answer. However, Sunday Monitor has traced a series of recent public statements uttered by Mao signalling his planned move to return to Parliament as an MP.
For example, on October 12, while addressing the congregation at the 13th memorial service of the late Tiberio Okeny Atwoma at Orayng Ojuma ‘A’ South Village in Labongo Amida Sub-county in Kitgum District, Mao hinted that he was primed to become the next head of state, based on the ongoing discussions. ‘I am one of the few people who have harvested honey without lighting any fire (smoke), and I am still harvesting it, and nothing stops me from sitting on the seat (presidency), but for now I don’t want to spill out so many secrets because there are levels of talks, including those that are highly classified,’ he said. Mao also called for support, without stating specifically where he would contest, saying he would best represent the interests of the Acholi people and steer the country through the transition.
‘You must elect strong leaders this time, you know the calibre of leaders that were elected to the CA [Constituent Assembly]. We must support and strengthen our politics. Me, I have come out here before you. Let us embrace the politics of unity, no leader owns any constituency, this thing of ‘my seat, my constituency’, the people are the owners of those constituencies, let us stop such reckless personalisation of constituencies,’ he said. ‘Uganda is at a very terrible corner, if you see people coming from western Uganda, those who were in reserve, they have all come back because they are seeing the sun already setting for the big man, this coming elections is for those who are experienced in leadership, they are the most wanted for the next five years not these lousy bush-rat hunters,’ he added.
‘Let’s be hopeful that we shall wait and witness the change, but while waiting, you must be prepared. As Acholi, we are the ones balancing the politics of Uganda, but we don’t know our value as Acholi people.’