Members of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) Historical Leaders Forum are demanding an audience with President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, urging him to fulfill a long-standing financial pledge made nearly a decade ago. The veterans say that many of their colleagues have died waiting, while others continue to suffer in poor health and poverty.
In a press statement issued over the weekend, the forum members expressed deep disappointment over the government’s failure to deliver on Museveni’s 2015 promise. During a meeting at Namboole National Stadium that year, the President committed to providing annual financial support to veterans in recognition of their role in the liberation struggle. However, according to the forum, no such support has been received since.
“We are the historical elders of the NRM/NRA liberation struggle,” the statement reads, “representing various fighting groups such as NRC, FRONASA, Luwero war veterans, UNRF, UNLF/AD, SUM, and UFM/FEDEM. We seek an urgent audience with the President to remind him of the promise, which remains unfulfilled to this day.”
The group criticized the handling of the matter by State House staff, claiming that repeated assurances of payment by the end of each financial year have come and gone with no results or official communication.
“This continued delay is becoming unbearable,” they added. “We respectfully request that the President meets with the full membership of the forum. Many of us are now elderly and facing serious hardships including illness and food insecurity. Others—such as our former chairman Alhaji Kirunda Kivejinja, Maj. Oliva Zzizinga, and Lt. Mahamoud Hussein—have died without ever benefiting from the promised support.”
The veterans noted that by the end of 2024, they were once again assured that funds would be released in the final quarter of the 2025/26 financial year. “Our hopes were raised when the President mentioned that funds had been allocated for the freedom fighters,” they said, “but the financial year has ended without any payments made or explanations offered.”
Despite their frustrations, the group emphasized that they remain hopeful the President will soon invite them for a meeting to discuss their concerns directly. “We are your comrades from the bush war,” they concluded, “and we believe it is time we sat down to address this issue face to face.”
