Loyal to the Cause, Uneasy with the Course. An NRM Reflection on Liberation Day. by Davis Owomugisha
By Davis Owomugisha
Today, we raise the flag again.
We sing the songs.
We remember the bush, the sacrifice, the promise.
But history has taught us something uncomfortable:
commemoration without correction becomes ritual, not renewal.
As an NRM member, I do not write this from bitterness, nor from opposition benches.
I write this from ownership—because the house you love is the one you dare to inspect.
Liberation was not declared so that Ugandans would merely survive.
It was fought for so they could live with dignity.
Yet in 2026, many citizens are not asking who liberated us,
they are asking where the liberation went.
We see it in:
the anxiety in households that work hard yet remain poor,
the fatigue of young people trained but not trusted,
the anger of communities that feel unheard except during campaigns,
the silence of institutions that once spoke for the common good.
These are not foreign problems.
They are internal warnings.
Liberation Day was meant to end fear as a system of governance.
If today fear returns—fear of speaking, fear of questioning, fear of being misunderstood—then liberation itself must be re-examined, not defended blindly.
The NRM has never claimed perfection.
Its strength, historically, was self-correction.
Its moral authority came from listening before commanding.
But when loyalty is mistaken for silence,
when criticism is treated as betrayal,
and when truth is postponed for convenience—
a movement slowly forgets why it was trusted in the first place.
Uganda has not yet collapsed.
But it is tired.
Tired of slogans without solutions.
Tired of unity preached but selectively practiced.
Tired of history being celebrated while the present bleeds quietly.
This is not a call to abandon the NRM.
It is a call to rescue its soul.
Liberation was a beginning, not an excuse.
Power was a responsibility, not a reward.
Stability was a bridge, not a destination.
If January 26 is to remain sacred, then it must challenge us—not comfort us.
It must ask leaders to listen more than they speak,
ask members to think more than they clap,
and ask the nation whether the liberation story is still being written—or merely repeated.
History is patient, but citizens are not infinitely so.
The greatest tribute to the liberation struggle is not celebration alone,
but course correction while there is still time.
That is how movements survive.
That is how nations avoid crisis.
That is how liberation stays alive.
Happy Liberation Day—may it liberate us again.
If you want, I can:
tighten this for a newspaper opinion column
soften it slightly for party-internal circulation
turn it into a speech, WhatsApp reflection, or church-style meditation
localize language for Ugandan political audiences
This piece already carries weight—but we can shape it for maximum impact.
