Ofwono Opondo Predicts Doom For NRM

Uganda Media Centre Boss Ofwono Opondo has predicted doom for the National Resistance Movement (NRM) government.

Opondo, who also doubles as government spokesperson, made the prediction while appearing on NBS TV’s Frontline show on Thursday evening.

He was particularly dismissive of NRM’s campaign message that is laced with historical anecdotes of the pre-1986 era. The NRM has been in power since President Museveni’s National Resistance Army stormed into Kampala in January 1986, capturing power.

“If we (NRM) don’t change, I can assure the times ahead, we won’t contain through peaceful means.” – Ofwono Opondo

According to Opondo, such a message cannot be bought by the majority of eligible voters. He cited the just released preliminary National Census results that show that over 50% of Ugandans are below 30 years old.

“When NRM came into power, Ugandans were only 16 million. Today we have 46 million. What does that mean?” – Ofwono Opondo.

It is with this basis that Ofwono Opondo said that 30 million of the current population do not want to know what happened pre-1986.

Ofwono Opondo’s advise

He warned that unless the leadership of the NRM changes its strategy, they could face similar challenges as their neighbors in Kenya.

The Kenyan government has been under pressure for the last couple of weeks as citizens protest the Finance Bill 2024. The bill was meant to raise taxes so as to slash a debt burden by about 2 billion dollars. Kenya’s public debt stands at a staggering 80 billion US dollars.

However, the Kenyan citizens, led by the Gen Zs, staged nationwide protests that included occupying Parliament on Tuesday. President Ruto has since rejected the bill and sent it back to Parliament for amendment.

According to Ofwono Opondo, the NRM shouldn’t pay a deaf ear to the occurrences. This is because such protests are usually a result of just a slight tipping point. In this case, it was exorbitant tax rates.