Former State Minister for ICT, Alintuma Nsambu, has withdrawn from the NRM party primary elections for Bukoto East County in Masaka district shortly after picking nomination forms.
Nsambu, currently serving as Uganda’s Ambassador to Algeria, paid the required nomination fees at the NRM party electoral commission headquarters in Kyadondo, Kampala, on Friday, June 13, 2025, a move that stirred excitement among NRM supporters in Bukoto East Constituency.
However, speaking to New Vision before leaving for Algeria on Saturday, June 13, Nsambu said he had decided to withdraw after receiving a study report highlighting the dangers of participating in the NRM party primaries.
New Vision has learnt that he first held talks with his fellow contenders in the party primaries, former central region youth MP Babirye Kityo and outgoing deputy RDC Pax Fred Kalema, in an effort to reach a consensus.
“It was after the consensus meeting that Nsambu decided to pull out of the race. He was of the view that they should field one candidate to counter their NUP opponent,” a source revealed.
Bukoto East fell to the opposition in the 2011 and 2016 elections after both Nsambu and Babirye Kityo lost to former area MPs Florence Namayanja (DP) and Evans Kanyike (NUP), respectively.
Namayanja later switched from DP to NUP and ran for the Masaka City mayoral seat in 2021, paving the way for current MP Evans Kanyike.
By Friday last week, Nsambu, Kityo, and Kalema, the former deputy RDC for Bukomansimbi district, had all picked nomination forms to contest in the upcoming primaries.
Nsambu told New Vision he had already informed the NRM party chairman, President Yoweri Museveni, in April about his intention to return to the Bukoto East Parliamentary race.
He pointed to a recurring problem where internal party primary politics undermine NRM candidates in the general elections.
“In retaliation, some of our supporters end up voting for the opposition after our party primary polls. We need to build a consensus earlier to avoid the post-primary divisions and troubles,” he said.
Nsambu said he would now focus on supporting President Museveni and the broader NRM campaigns.
“I urge all NRM supporters in our constituency to support President Museveni and the party,” he said.
He had earlier intensified grassroots mobilisation during the recently concluded NRM grassroots elections, where many of his supporters won polls from the village to the district level.
Nsambu had also strengthened ties with Masaka Diocese, particularly with Bishop Serverus Jjumba, promoting coffee exports to West Africa, scholarships to Algeria, and youth sports talent development, among other initiatives.
NRM supporters in Bukoto East and the wider Masaka region, led by outgoing Masaka district rural NRM chairperson Peter Ssenkungu, have, however, urged the party to intervene in Nsambu’s decision to withdraw.
“We cannot afford to lose Nsambu. He is our only hope to rescue the Bukoto East parliamentary seat from NUP. We need a strong contender like him,” Ssenkungu said.
However, youth and children affairs state minister Balaam Barugahara supported the idea of backing Babirye Kityo. Addressing residents of Buwunga in Bukoto East on June 15, 2025, Barugahare urged them to support Kityo, describing her as “a tested NRM leader who is pro-people.”
The NRM party primaries for Bukoto East will now be a contest between Kalema and Kityo, while the general election will feature former URA staff Christopher Mbigo and incumbent MP Evans Kanyike.
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