In a candid admission that has sent shockwaves through Uganda’s political landscape, former army commander and Alliance for National Transformation (ANT) president Gen. Mugisha Muntu has declared that the party is too financially incapacitated to sustain itself, announcing a strategic handover of the party’s direction to Dr. Kizza Besigye’s People’s Front for Freedom (PFF).
This dramatic shift follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between ANT and PFF on July 2, formalizing a merger of efforts between two splinter groups that originally broke away from the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC).
Speaking in a nationally televised interview, Gen. Muntu openly admitted that ANT, since its formation in 2019, has been crippled by a lack of funding, hindering its ability to build a robust national presence.
“We have been moving across the country, holding sub-county meetings, but the challenge that’s consistently held us back is money,” Muntu said.
He further revealed that ANT’s lack of parliamentary representation has shut it out of government political financing, distributed only to parties with MPs through the National Consultative Forum. This exclusion, he said, has effectively left ANT politically suffocated.
But beyond institutional barriers, Muntu lamented the absence of a culture of political investment among Ugandan citizens, arguing that the public has largely failed to understand their role in financially supporting political parties.
“People give money to churches, mosques, weddings, funerals—yet the very politics that decides everything from education to health and roads gets no funding from them,” Muntu noted.
He took aim at President Yoweri Museveni, accusing him of institutionalizing the monetization of politics in Uganda by using state resources to buy political loyalty, thus corrupting the democratic process and starving issue-based parties of survival.
“What Museveni introduced is the vice of money politics. Now voters expect money. Unfortunately, those who have money are often corrupt, and the decent ones—like us—don’t have it,” Muntu said.
The merger with PFF, led by four-time presidential contender Dr. Kizza Besigye, signals a possible consolidation of Uganda’s fragmented opposition movement, which has long suffered from disunity and lack of coordination.
Analysts believe that Muntu’s strategic surrender is both an act of humility and realism, reflecting an understanding that ideals alone cannot keep a political party afloat in a political environment saturated with transactional politics.
Founded in March 2019 by Gen. Muntu and a team of reformist politicians, ANT positioned itself as a values-driven party focused on building lasting institutions and shunning populist confrontation. However, its vision of politics based on integrity and structure struggled to resonate in a system where charisma and cash often dominate.
Despite its lofty ideals, ANT failed to win a single parliamentary seat in the 2021 elections—an outcome that critically wounded its legitimacy and long-term prospects.
The PFF-ANT alliance is now expected to revamp its mobilization strategy, with Besigye likely to take center stage. While the future of the ANT brand remains uncertain, insiders suggest the move could mark the beginning of a unified opposition front as Uganda prepares for the 2026 general elections.
As the political dust settles, Gen. Muntu’s admission may be remembered not just as a concession of defeat—but as a brutally honest reflection on the harsh realities of trying to do clean politics in a heavily monetized system.
Whether the alliance with PFF will breathe new life into Uganda’s opposition or further fragment it remains to be seen—but one thing is clear: Muntu’s political gospel of clean, accountable leadership has just taken a back seat to financial survival.