By Our Reporter,
GULU
More than 30 members of the Democratic Party’s (DP) National Executive Committee (NEC) are poised to retain their positions unopposed, internal party sources reveal, signaling a consolidation of power ahead of a highly anticipated extraordinary National Delegates Conference in the coming weeks.
The unopposed candidates, many of them long-serving officials are awaiting the formal inclusion of key party figures such as the president, chairman, secretary general, woman leader, and organizing secretary. The final lineup is expected to solidify the party’s leadership core ahead of potential negotiations with the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM).
In a development that has stirred quiet speculation, DP President Norbert Mao reportedly facilitated the discreet movement of several NEC members to the home of General Salim Saleh in Gulu. The meeting, held behind closed doors, took place shortly before the conference preparations began in earnest, underscoring the increasingly complex interplay between the opposition party and state-linked figures.
“Let us not mix up this election with the discussion of issues,” President Mao cautioned NEC members during a meeting. “We will meet again to address the real questions, particularly those raised by the General (Gen. Salim Saleh) about where we actually differ from the NRM.”
While sources confirm that the DP and NRM share common ground on some economic policies, deeper political rifts persist. “Ugandans remain uneasy because they feel the political playing field is tilted,” Mao noted, citing long-standing concerns over electoral fairness, civil liberties, and democratic space.
General Salim Saleh, a key figure in Uganda’s post-conflict transition and brother to President Museveni, made a rare appearance before the NEC, his first-ever formal engagement with the party. Acknowledging citizens’ frustrations, he emphasized that transitional justice remains a difficult but ongoing process.
“I was tasked to find people who had never touched money,” Gen. Saleh said. “And now, the numbers show that poverty levels are slowly declining.”
He urged the party to prioritize substance over spectacle. “Empty politics can begin small but quickly spiral out of control,” he warned. “That is why the security services remain alert.”
In a candid and unexpected closing remark, the General thanked the DP for granting him a platform, something he claimed he had never received from the NRM. He expressed cautious optimism for genuine political engagement between parties after the delegates conference.
In developing stories, Parrots Media has learned about a planned protest by a section of party members demanding for Mao’s immediate resignation. The party has also organized an urgent press conference at their national mobilization headquarters, along Balintuma road, Rubaga division Kampala, reportedly to address these issues. Details of this conference will be reported in our subsequent reports…….
