New Year Address to Fellow Ugandans: A Call for a New Uganda in 2026

Remembering Those We Lost

In the past year, we have lost many of our people. We lost Hon. Ssegirinya, Alexander Marinos, Rajiv Ruparelia, Shaka Ssali, DJ Bush Baby, and others. May their souls rest in peace.

East Africa lost Raila Odinga. ODINGA, that great man, will always remain an immortal symbol of African resistance to oppression. He taught generations that the price of silence will always be greater than any suffering dictators may inflict on people for opposing them. May his soul rest in peace.

As we remember those we lost in 2025, we must also think of the many who were abducted, tortured, disappeared, exiled, murdered, or simply threatened into silence for supporting the struggle for a New Uganda.

Our Comrades Still Under Detention

Since he was abducted on 27th April 2025 and personally tortured to near death by dictator Museveni’s son, Eddie Mutwe remains captive in prison without treatment or trial.

Machete Yasin, Ashraf Kalanzi, and many others have now spent 5 years in Kitalya, also without trial. Add to that list our Deputy Spokesperson Waiswa Mufumbiro, comrades Olivia Lutaaya, Achileo Kivumbi, Bobi Young, and others.

Two years ago, on 16th November 2024, Dr. Kizza Besigye was abducted from Kenya, smuggled back into Uganda, and sent to prison where he also remains to date. On Monday this week, a Judge of the High Court re-wrote the law when he denied Besigye bail on grounds that Besigye must first tell the court whether he is guilty or not. For those who do not know, our law allows a prisoner to be given bail even if they have not pleaded to the charges against them.

Meanwhile, many families are still searching for missing relatives, and many of our people carry physical and mental scars from unlawful detention and brutality. We stand with them, and continue to help them whenever we can.

The Size of the Monster We Face

With all this impunity, comrades, as we start 2026, I think we all realize the size of the monster we must bring down come 15th January 2026. We must therefore reflect deeply and honestly about the phase our struggle for a New Uganda is now at.

Uganda is rich in people and resources, yet millions of its citizens live in total poverty. This is not because they lack the capacity to transform their lives, but because they have lacked accountable leadership for so long a time.

Last year, we continued to suffer under a regime that has already spent forty years suppressing our right to exist as dignified human beings while concentrating power and wealth in the hands of a few. Elections remained neither free nor fair. Corruption and abuse of office carried on unpunished, as those who dared to expose them paid a heavy price.

The Youth Stand Against Corruption

In July, our young people mobilized themselves to march against the shocking corruption at Parliament presided over by Anita Among. Regime security officers responded by arresting, torturing, raping, and sodomizing many of them in police custody! Many were then charged with being public nuisances, and sent to prison.

State institutions like the police, the military, and the Electoral Commission itself, which should protect the Constitution and the people, chose instead to serve the interests of the regime. Instead of upholding the law fairly, they chose to selectively apply it against the people asking for a better country.

We condemn in the strongest terms any attempt by these institutions to abandon their legal mandates and hide behind “guidelines” or directives that are outside the law. No individual or institution has the authority to override our Constitution. When the Electoral Commission, Police, or any other institution issues guidelines that contradict the law, we must firmly reject those guidelines for being illegal.

The Campaign Trail: Brutality and Resilience

As you know, we are in the last two weeks of our presidential campaign. So far, we have faced ongoing brutality and interference from the regime. We have been intimidated, teargassed, arrested, supporters attacked and killed. We are blocked from towns, we are blocked from using main roads, we have been blocked from campaigning in some districts.

Yet, everywhere we have gone, the reception from the people has been overwhelmingly positive. Millions of Ugandans have turned out to welcome us and assert their readiness to reclaim their country and stand for a New Uganda.

One of our greatest achievements during the ongoing campaigns has been the reawakening of our people across the country. From Kisoro to Koboko, Busia to Kaabong, Ugandans have stood up to reclaim ownership of their country and their future. Citizens now proudly and defiantly raise the Uganda flag as a symbol of resistance; a symbol of a nation that belongs to all who live in it.

The Unity Amongst Ugandans

Everywhere we go, ordinary Ugandans, regardless of tribe, religion, or region, are recognizing that they share the same struggles: bad and impassable roads, low access to grid electricity, underfunded public schools, health centres without medicines and staff, and a crushing cost of living.

A market vendor in Nakawa, a farmer in Jinja, a teacher in Moroto, and a youth in Kiruhuura all understand that their suffering is caused not by their neighbors, but by a corrupt and unjust system that has failed to serve them.

This awakening, this new love for our country and for one another, is an achievement of our campaign so far. It shows that Ugandans now see each other as brothers and sisters facing the same challenges and deserving the same dignity.

Throughout this campaign, we have not only exposed the failures of the current regime but also continue to explain, in simple terms, what a New Uganda will look like under an NUP government truly elected by the people.

What a New Uganda Will Look Like

As we approach 15th January, our message remains clear: the change will not be just about changing faces but national systems and priorities as well. Like our detailed campaign Manifesto shows, in the New Uganda, Ugandans should expect:

• An end to human rights violations and a return to constitutionalism in its purest form
• Security forces that protect citizens and uphold the law fairly
• Independent and professional institutions of State
• Zero tolerance for corruption
• Free, quality public education to give our children a fair shot at life
• Jobs and fair pay for anyone willing and able to work; and social support for those unable to work
• A development agenda that will give youth, farmers, traders, small businesses, and others the chance to thrive
• Equal treatment and delivery of public services to all citizens, tribes, regions, name it

These are the standards by which we invite Ugandans to hold ours and any future government accountable. They are the core of a New Uganda.

A Message to the Youth

To the young people in ghettos, towns, villages, markets, schools, universities, on boda boda stages, in the diaspora, and anywhere else you may be: you remain the heartbeat of this struggle.

Like I have always said, an awakened generation that refuses to be bought, silenced, or divided can never be defeated. In 2026, you must maintain your discipline, and remain united and committed to non-violent struggle, even when provoked. But you must also take comfort in your right to self-defence, because there is no dignity in taking an unfair beating lying down if one can fight back. In any case, Article 3 of our Constitution grants you unconditional immunity for any action you may take in defence of the Constitution.

To religious and cultural leaders, civil servants, professionals, business people, and genuine colleagues in the opposition: Uganda is bigger than all of us. We may differ on tactics, but we must agree that our country needs a peaceful transfer of power and a new social contract grounded in justice and fairness.

The Transition Plan

As we fight for a peaceful transfer of power, I remain alive to the importance of how a New Uganda will be managed from the first day of transition. I therefore wish to assure you compatriots that we have already set in motion a transitional mechanism, led by a technical team tasked to produce a detailed blueprint for the structure of the new government and other transitional arrangements.

This team is reviewing institutions, laws, security, the civil service, service delivery systems, and consulting ordinary citizens to ensure that from the first day, a New Uganda is governed in an orderly and constitutional manner.

In the days immediately after winning the elections, our political teams will formally join this technical team and together refine the transition roadmap, agree on priorities, and prepare systems and personnel needed to receive the instruments of authority come May 2026.

During the transition period, we shall ensure the safety of every citizen, regardless of who they supported in the past. We shall also ensure a broad-based, merit-driven government to reflect the true face of Uganda. Competent and patriotic Ugandans from all tribes, religions, genders, and backgrounds will be invited to serve in leadership if they are up to the task.

Change is Possible

I want to encourage you, my fellow citizens, to reject the lie that nothing can change in Uganda. Everything can. History has repeatedly shown that oppressive systems always look unshakable – until they fall.

Every act of courage, every sacrifice, every truth spoken in the face of fear brings us closer to the New Uganda we seek. Even those who defend the regime and do its dirty work know, deep down, that the present situation cannot last forever.

So let us reject the lies and tribalism. Let us reject hatred. Let us stand together and continue to document every abuse. Let us continue to support political prisoners and their families.

Preparing for Election Day: BITCHAT

Comrades, we must prepare for every eventuality in the coming election, including the possibility that the internet will be switched off. I therefore encourage all of us, once again, to download the BITCHAT app now, which we shall use to communicate without internet or mobile networks.

The more people have the app, the more effective its use will be. And remember to keep your Bluetooth on at all times, because the app relies entirely on Bluetooth to function. We shall use BITCHAT to stay connected, share DR forms and other information, and protect our votes even if the regime tries to cut us off.

January 15th: A Protest Vote

As I conclude, I want to remind all of us that the January election is a Protest Vote. Millions of us should prepare to turn up and vote and overwhelm the dictator in the ballot box. If it happened to Marcos of Philippines in 1986, and if it happened to Yahaya Jammeh of Gambia in 2016, it can surely happen to Museveni of Uganda in 2026.

See, comrades, the change we seek does not come from guns or violence. It comes from the will of the people who express it peacefully through elections. That is why those who fear the people have perfected ways of stealing elections. Sometimes they steal them openly, and in other cases they steal them quietly, step by step, between the Polling Station and the Tally Center.

They stuff ballot boxes with pre-ticked ballots. They issue more than one ballot to known supporters of the dictatorship. They manipulate counting, skipping or repeating numbers to erase our victories or inflate theirs. Many times, they also alter figures on DR forms along the journey between the polling station and the District Tally Center.

That is why I call upon you, comrades, to defend your vote with everything you have.

How to Protect Your Vote

Be at your polling station early, because polling starts at 06:00 a.m. Those who stuff ballots do so very early in the morning before most voters turn up. Your presence is therefore the first line of defence against ballot stuffing.

After casting your vote, please REMAIN AT THE POLLING STATION. The law allows you to remain twenty meters away from the polling table. Stay there and observe the rest of the process calmly and attentively. Keep your eyes wide open at all times.

When counting ends and results are declared, please remember this: the law is on your side. The Presidential Elections Act requires that once counting ends, a copy of the DR form must be immediately posted and displayed in a very visible place at the Polling Station for public view. Insist that Presiding Officer at your Polling Station does this.

Once the DR Form is displayed, let as many of you as possible take clear photos of that DR form and keep them safely.

To our Polling Agents and other volunteers, the law also allows you to escort the DR forms and sealed ballot paper boxes as they are transported from the Polling Station to the Sub-county or Division headquarters – where our agents will already be waiting and watching closely. We encourage you to escort them.

Sec. 58 of the Presidential Elections Act requires all Returning Officers to electronically share with us, in real time, copies of each and every Return Form, Tally Sheet, and DR form as soon as they shall have complete the addition of votes in their respective areas of operation. We shall expect them to strictly comply with this provision.

If They Steal Our Victory

Comrades, should the regime attempt to steal our victory again, Mukabanje. Our Constitution guarantees your right to assemble, to march, and to demonstrate in case they rig the election. Do exactly that without waiting for mine or any other leader’s order.

Mukanonye. Mukalonde. Mukakuume. Mukabanje.