Opposition parties in Bunyoro say security intimidation and weak grassroots networks are undermining their efforts to expand support ahead of the 2031 general elections, while NRM leaders and analysts question their political influence in the sub-region.
Opposition parties in Bunyoro are raising concerns over alleged harassment and intimidation by security agencies as they rebuild grassroots structures ahead of the 2031 general elections, following a poor performance in the 2026 polls.
The parties say weak grassroots networks contributed to their limited success in the last elections. However, National Resistance Movement (NRM) leaders and political analysts argue that the opposition has struggled to establish a strong political foothold in the sub-region.
The Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU) also claims to have attracted young people who previously supported opposition parties.
In the 2026 general elections, opposition parties won only two of the 28 parliamentary seats in Bunyoro.
They were People’s Front for Freedom (PFF) candidate Asinansi Nyakato, who won the Hoima City Woman MP seat, and Alliance for National Transformation (ANT) candidate Ismail Kasule, elected MP for Hoima City West.
At the local government level, the NRM won most positions, including district chairperson, municipality and division leadership seats across the sub-region.
With the elections over, opposition parties say they have resumed mobilisation, recruiting members and establishing structures from the village level as they lay the groundwork for the 2031 polls.
Hanington Kasasa, the Bunyoro regional spokesperson for the National Unity Platform (NUP), said the party was building its structures from villages to district level.
He added that NUP was using activities marking its president Bobi Wine’s designated day to mobilise supporters and recruit new members.
Kasasa said the party believed Uganda needed a fundamental political overhaul but complained that security restrictions were making mobilisation difficult, including efforts to participate in activities marking the day.
He questioned the government's commitment to democratic freedoms, arguing that opposition parties were facing shrinking political space.
Matia Kajura, the Uganda People's Congress (UPC) regional coordinator for Bunyoro, said the party was finalising a master plan to strengthen its organisation and expand its support base.
Kajura said UPC had also made progress in local council elections, securing positions in Kiryandongo, Buliisa and Masindi districts, which he described as encouraging steps towards the 2031 elections.
John Balijura, a PFF councillor in Hoima City, said his party hoped to establish stronger grassroots structures by 2031 to improve its chances of winning parliamentary and local government seats.
Despite these efforts, opposition leaders continue to raise concerns about alleged harassment and intimidation by security agencies, saying such incidents undermine their ability to organise and mobilise supporters.
However, political analyst Fred Benkya said opposition parties had yet to establish a strong political foothold in Bunyoro, questioning whether they could mobilise enough support to win more seats in the sub-region.
Benkya argued that Nyakato and Kasule owed their victories more to their individual political strengths than to the parties they represented.
Kikuube Resident District Commissioner Godwin Angalia also argued that the opposition had limited political space in Bunyoro, citing government development projects in the sub-region as an advantage for the ruling NRM.
Israel Maniraguha, the PLU coordinator for Bunyoro, claimed that young people who previously supported opposition parties had since joined his organisation.
Kasasa dismissed the suggestion that the PLU was weakening NUP, insisting that his party remained committed to expanding its support base despite the challenges it says it faces.