Cankara Moses Mwaka, the chief promoter of the proposed Patriotic League of Uganda Movement (PLUM), has invited Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba to join the political outfit, pledging support for his potential presidential bid in 2031.
Mwaka said PLUM would welcome members of the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU), which Muhoozi heads, arguing that the two organisations have different legal identities because PLU is a civic organisation while PLUM intends to operate as a registered political party.
“If Gen. Muhoozi wants to contest for the presidency in 2031, we welcome him to join us. We shall support his candidature,” Mwaka said in an interview, adding that the group was assembling what he described as a strong team.
The development follows a letter dated October 9, 2026, which Mwaka addressed to the Electoral Commission seeking the reservation of the proposed party’s name, colours, symbols and slogan.
The letter, which has circulated on social media, asks the Commission to examine the political party register and establish whether the proposed identifiers are available for use and can be protected.
Mwaka also requested guidance on the application requirements, saying the group wanted to proceed with compiling the national founders’ register once it receives clearance from the Commission.
“We look forward to your written clearance and guidance on the required application schedules to assemble our national founders’ registers,” the letter reads in part.
The proposed party’s name has raised questions about possible confusion with the existing PLU, given the similarity between the two names.
However, Mwaka dismissed concerns that the move could create a conflict between the organisations, insisting that their intended legal status distinguishes them.
“There is no confusion because PLU is a civic organisation which is recognised and registered by the Uganda Registration Services Bureau. But ours is intended to be a political party registered under the Electoral Commission. Therefore, there is a great difference between PLU and PLUM,” he said.
Mwaka further argued that the legal framework governing political parties and organisations does not permit PLU to register as a political party in its current form, a position he cited to explain why he was pursuing a separate political vehicle.
“We have taken this step of registering PLUM as a political party because the current legal system does not allow PLU to register as a political party. It is a civic organisation. Therefore, there is no contradiction whatsoever,” he said.
He added that the group was awaiting the Electoral Commission’s response to its request to reserve the name and other identifying features before proceeding with the party registration process.
“We have written to the EC to reserve the name, colour, symbol and slogan, and we hope they will respond very soon so that we can kick off the exercise of registering the party. I want to assure Ugandans that we are going to secure this name,” Mwaka said.
Mwaka also revealed that several PLU members had contacted him following the emergence of the proposed party, including the organisation’s Secretary General, Twalla Fadil. He declined to disclose details of their discussions.
He called for calm among members of the civic organisation and urged them to consider joining the proposed political party.
“Let everyone calm down. This is a newborn baby; it is a healthy child. Let everyone, including those in the civic organisation, join it,” he said.
Efforts to obtain a comment from Fadil were unsuccessful, as he did not respond to calls to his known telephone number.
The proposed party’s registration now depends on the Electoral Commission’s response to Mwaka’s request and the fulfilment of the applicable legal requirements for registering a political party.
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