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Political pilgrims seeking to enter the Promised Land of elected office have been left wandering in the desolate desert of uncertainty after their guide returned to base.

For some of his followers in the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU), the declaration by Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who is also the Chief of Defence Forces, that he will not run in the 2026 election but instead back his father, President Museveni’s re-election bid, was a sudden sandstorm.

“I have never seen a mourning week in PLU like this one,” Mr Frank Gashumba, the outfit’s vice chairman in the central region, said on Monday. “I tell you we are in tears.”

He confessed that he and other members of PLU had not been briefed before the announcement made last Friday on the micro-blogging platform, X.

With many political office seekers looking to ride on Gen Kainerugaba’s coattails into or back into Parliament, the announcement will force recalibrations with just 18 months left to the General Election.

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