The National Economic Empowerment Dialogue (NEED), led by former presidential candidate Joseph Kabuleta, has officially entered Uganda’s political landscape as a registered party, declaring its mission to challenge President Yoweri Museveni’s decades long regime through a movement rooted in economic liberation.
The announcement was made during the party’s inaugural National Delegates Conference held in Kampala drawing participants from across the country, including Karamoja, Sebei, and Ankole.
This milestone marked NEED’s transformation from a pressure group focused on national dialogue to a fully structured political organisation.
With a maize comb as its symbol a nod to Uganda’s agricultural roots the party unveiled its official membership card and kickstarted a nationwide registration campaign. The leadership emphasized that the party’s agenda is grounded in empowering ordinary Ugandans economically.
“Our struggle begins with economic liberation,” said Joseph Kabuleta, now officially the party president. “If people have money in their pockets, they cannot be manipulated with election handouts. This is why our focus is economic empowerment.”
NEED’s slogan, “Money in Your Pocket,” digest its economic first approach to political mobilisation from rural farmers to urban traders, the party is calling on all Ugandans to unite behind what it describes as a people driven, home grown movement for transformation.
Kabuleta argued that sustained poverty has been weaponized by the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) to maintain control. “Museveni has mastered the art of keeping people poor, then using their desperation to buy votes. That cycle must be broken,” he stated.
With its official registration approved by the Electoral Commission, NEED is now building structures across the country and preparing for the 2026 general elections. The party pledges to intensify civic education campaigns focused on economic self-sufficiency as a path toward democratic transition and national renewal.