Serere, Uganda – family ties shape the Ugandan parliament. The people who die in office are more and more succeeded by close relatives – children, spouses or even brothers and sisters – and often with strong support from political parties and local communities. At least five members of the current Parliament succeeded their loved ones and, in the previous parliaments, several members also did.
When Patrick Okabe, a member of the county of Serere, died in a car accident in 2022, his son, Emmanuel Omody, ran during the by -election and won. When the president and deputy of the county of Omoro, Jacob Oulayah, died in 2022, his son, Andrew Ojok Ouulayah, replaced him. And when Rehema Watongola, the deputy for the municipality of Kamuli, died in 2020, his daughter, Kayanga Baroda, won the headquarters of an independent ticket.
While the approach of the general elections of Uganda in 2026, some of these successors campaign to keep their seats. Although it is not against the constitution of the country, criticism warns that the model may reduce the opportunities again leadership.
“It is an intentional factor in the political class to promote a monarchy,” explains Rogers Barigayomwe, associate professor in the Department of Development, Peace and Conflict Studies at the International University of Kampala.
This trend is an attempt to concentrate power in the hands of a few, he says, and this is a problem that bleeds from the top. President Yoweri Museveni has reigned for almost four decades and presents himself for a seventh term in the general elections of 2026. His wife, Janet Museveni, is the Minister of Education and Sports, while his eldest son, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, is the country’s defense forces, a role that has long fueled the speculations according to which president.
Guaranteed continuity
Barigayomwe partially blames the culture of the country’s monetized elections, where voters prioritize immediate material gains and the continuity of legislative performance. “Politics no longer concerns serious problems,” he said, adding that if a deputy promises six ambulances and dies before delivering everything, voters trust that someone from their family will continue the work.
Many communities lack public infrastructure and basic services, and legislators often intervene to provide essential elements such as water tanks, boreholes, schools and even public health establishments – which are all services that the government should provide. But the voters came to count on individual members of the Parliament to fill these shortcomings, that the legislators exploit the effect of electoral support.
Voters, says Barigayomwe, consider relatives of politicians as guarantors of continuity. This is part of the reason why Simon Peter Higenyi, a retired teacher of the Boutaleja district, voted for a family member when former deputy Cerinah Nebanda died in 2012, before completing his mandate. His sister, Florence Nebanda Andiru, won the by -election.
Higenyi says he had confidence in the family’s file. They had invested in companies in the region and created private schools, which, according to him, have benefited the community. “They did so so that we can access the services,” he said.
Sometimes the members of the community put pressure for the family succession, explains Stephen Ochola, brother of Okabe, member of the Parliament who died in 2022. The community has pressure for someone from the family to take their place, says Ochola, who is now a deputy.
“Serere people said,” We need a family child to replace his father, “he adds.
Ochola says that the family did not plan to enter the campaign after the accident, who also claimed Okabe’s wife. But local expectations swept them away. “It was a very difficult period for us, but we had to accept it,” explains Ochola.
The son of the former parliamentarian ran as an independent candidate and campaigned on his father’s inheritance to support churches, orphanages and community projects.
Party dominance
The trend towards nepotism also concerns the parties consolidating power, explains Sabiti Makara, professor of governance at the University of Kabale.
He says that the ruling party, the national resistance movement, which dominated the country’s political landscape for as long as Museveni has held power, normalized the heritage of the political office by appointing parents as successors and carrying flags – a strategy to keep the seat.
“Politics is a game of figures,” says Makara, and the parties know that a parent will probably win.
For example, when MP Michael Oromait died in 2012, the party chose his 19-year-old daughter, Proscovia Alengot Oromait, as a standard bearer for the county of Usuk. She won. On the campaign trail, Museveni, which also serves as president of the NRM party, stood next to her to show her support.
And after the Minister of State and deputy Charles Okello Engola was shot in 2023, NRM presented his son, Samuel Okello Engola, as a standard bearer of the Oyam North seat. Although he did not win, during his campaign, he undertook to continue his father’s inheritance.
Earlier this year, the ruling party was faced with criticisms to block candidates who lose in primaries to present themselves as independent – which, according to some, is a means of continuing its domination over the country’s political landscape.
Emmanuel Lumala Dombo, director of the information and advertising party, does not deny that the party will sometimes appoint a parent to succeed in deceased parliamentarians.
It is “human nature”, he says. “If you (were) a president, you would like your son to be at this level.”
It is not contrary to the law, he underlines, as long as those who take control meet the constitutional requirements to be in office.
Only a few advantages
The problem, says Barigayomwe, is that only a few families benefit from it – to the detriment of the public. Some families, he says, treat him like a farm or a business to be inherited.
Those who inherit seats may not have the experience of doing the job well, says Makara. “Democracy is supposed to be an open space for all those who qualify to compete favorably.”
Successors must be elected to merit, explains George Opolot, a resident of serere in Kampala. The legacy of the political function, he adds, limits the opportunities to others to participate.
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“Many replacements do not work as (well) as their predecessors,” he says. “They only try to carry out projects initiated by their relatives who have died but do not effectively represent their voters.”
In the long term, says Barigayomwe, dynastic policy will deprive Uganda of good leaders.
“Finally, managers will be detached from the communities and the provision of services will be compromised,” he said. “This will affect the quality of the legislation.”
Everything comes down to poverty, says Musa Kisayiza, a constituent of Boutaleja in eastern Uganda, where Florence Nebanda Andiru replaced her sister, Cerinah Nebanda, as a deputy. Kisayiza says that political families have more access to opportunities, such as education, than the communities they serve.
“Most of us are poor and without instruction,” says Kisayiza. “This is why we continue to vote for the same families.”
In the next elections, he wants to support a candidate who was disadvantaged by hereditary policy.
“We have to continue to change the leaders,” he says, “to see the difference.”