Farmers under the Uganda National Farmers’ Federation (UNFFE) have said they plan to raise 12 million votes for President Museveni in the next two weeks. The farmers said they have more gains to protect than any other sector in the country.
Ugandans are set to head to the polls on January 15, 2026, to elect a President and Members of Parliament. Mr Museveni, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) presidential candidate and incumbent, is seeking a seventh consecutive term that will extend his rule to 45 years.
Dr Dick Nuwamanya Kamuganga, the UNFFE president, says over the next few days, they will utilise the bottom- up structure, from village farmer associations (VFAs) upward, to execute a ‘surgical’ household-to-household and farm-to-farm strategy to draw support for the President.
‘We are activating a 17-day intensive marathon to mobilise 12.5 million farmers across Uganda’s four regions who voted for President Museveni and all NRM party flag bearers,’ Dr Nuwamanya said during their 33rd annual general assembly at their offices in Kampala on Monday.
He added: ‘Our unique doctrine encompasses polling station taskforces, and has activated a Farmer Polling Station Taskforce (FPST) of 15 farmers per polling station to serve as final mile mobilisation agents and strategists.’
Dr Nuwamanya, who is also the chairperson of Mbarara District Farmers’ Association, says there are 4.5 million farmers associated with the UNFFE.
He adds that they will target three voters from each household, bringing the total number of potential voters to 13.5 million.
‘We believe that farmers have more gains to protect and appreciate than any other sector, including those introduced by the former National Agricultural Advisory Services (Naads), the current Operation Wealth Creation (OWC), the Parish Development Model (PDM), and the Four-Acre Model,’ Dr Nuwamanya, a dairy farmer, said.
Dr Nuwamanya also announced that the UNFFE will launch its first Annual Farmers’ Summit at the Kololo Independence Grounds on January 11, with President Museveni expected to preside over the function.
He added that the summit is a strategic platform for engagement on issues that affect the farmers, and also serve as a dialogue platform between the farmers and Executive to synchronise agricultural policy, wealth creation and accountability in the country.
Dr Nuwamanya said UNFFE is also moving towards institutional self-reliance through the acquisition of a $10m (Shs36 billion) Farmers’ Tower. The 16-floor tower will serve as a national centre for coordination, training and policy engagement in agriculture and to generate sustainable office rental income to support farmer programmes and protect their assets.
Mr Rogers Wangoda, the chairman of Sironko Farmers’ Association, says the district has commodity enterprise groups, agro-based groups, farmer heads referred to as CBF, and modern farmers under the Four-Acre Model, that they intend to mobilise to support the President.
‘We shall rally those, plus parish and sub-county groups, among others, to raise the 12.5 million votes for President Museveni,’ he said.
NRM last week claimed to have 14 million members on the updated National Voters’ Register that the Electoral Commission (EC) will use in the 2026 General Election. Mr Richard Todwong, the party’s secretary general, said the figure was arrived at by comparing the National Identification Numbers (NIN) of party members with those on the updated National Voters’ Register.
At least 21.6 million voters are expected to turn up for the January 15 polls, 3.5 million voters more than the 18.1 million voters who were in the 2021 National Voters’ Register.
However, National Unity Platform (NUP) presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, said they received information that the regime had done multiple registrations of people considered their supporters, largely using the NRM register, PDM beneficiaries, and some government workers, among others.
‘They placed such individuals at different polling stations but within short distances of each other, so that they engage in multiple voting,’ he said.
EC chairperson Simon Byabakama earlier asked Ugandans who doubt the Commission’s credibility to organise free and fair elections to table evidence to support their claims.
‘Can you prove that we cannot conduct a free and fair election because the person who appointed me the commissioner ends up being a (presidential) candidate?’ he asked.
He added: ‘You show us evidence. But when you talk generally without specifics, then I also cannot give you clear answers. The bottom line is the law, which says all candidates are treated equally, and we do that.’