Forum For Democratic Change - Splits Within The NRM

Splits Within The NRM

Another important development was the NRA recruitment of younger impressionable soldiers who often held Museveni in awe. This did not often go down well with the more senior NRA officers:

"He was also clever that he recruited very young and inexperienced people; the kind that would obey him. Many of them were either coming from university or those who had not even been to school".

The younger educated cadres began to gain more influence in the NRM. Many had only joined the war towards its conclusion or had joined as NRM cadres after the war. This rivalry was often vocal and acrimonious:

"Many people have intimidated us, calling us (young people) creepers and sycophants of Museveni".

The young cadres and the Tutsi refugees formed the new power base of the NRM, and the party increasingly appeared tribal. Ugandan politics has been plagued by tribalism, and the young cadres with their new influence often encouraged the appointment of their relatives into key government positions. Most of these cadres were from the south-west of Uganda like Museveni.

This power base was suddenly weakened when the Tutsi refugees led by Paul Kagame decided to return to Rwanda to fight the government there. The loss of so many key military and political advisers particularly in the intelligence services left Museveni vulnerable. The NRM realised it had to broaden its appeal, first by appeasing the Baganda (Uganda's largest ethnic group) by restoring their king the Kabaka, and recruiting more people from other tribes into the armed forces. The NRM also emphasised its role in restoring law and order to the country and continuously evoked the fear amongst the southern tribes that the brutal northern armies of Milton Obote and Idi Amin could return if the NRM failed. This fear was facilitated by the war in the north waged by the Lords Resistance Army. The NRM also presided over rapid economic growth in the south of Uganda.

With this new confidence Museveni began to act against those challenging his authority in the NRM. Many of these were the original members of the NRM/NRA including the army commander Major General Mugisha Muntu and other once powerful NRM leaders. Many of these leaders opted for quiet retirement in their home districts, but others like Mugisha Muntu and the former NRM spokesperson Winnie Byanyima began openly criticising Museveni. However there appeared to be little enthusiasm to completely break with the NRM, rather to encourage change from within.

This changed in the elections in 2001 when a retired NRA officer called Kizza Besigye challenged Museveni for the presidency. Besigye was relatively unknown outside the NRM/NRA establishment, but his courage in standing for election attracted both curiosity and support. He was also in a relationship with Winnie Byanyima the vocal former NRM spokesperson. Winnie Byanyima's family was close to Museveni's and there were reports that the two had once had an affair. This added drama to the elections which were held without political parties. Besigye attracted many of the disgruntled former NRA/NRM members, but they were unable to overhaul Museveni's popularity and lost to the president by a large margin in the elections.