When did Ofwono Opondo resign from Uganda Media Center?
Today, 19 April 2025, Mr. Ofwono Opondo, the long-serving executive director of the Uganda Media Centre (UMC), has announced his intention to step down from the government communication post. According to our sources, he has decided to embark on a new political journey. The veteran journalist and government spokesperson is setting his sights on the national stage with plans to run for Parliament, representing the elderly in Eastern Uganda.
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Mr. Opondo, 61, confirmed his decision during a live political talk show on Capital FM, where he candidly revealed that he had officially written to President Yoweri Museveni to express his desire to vacate the post he has held for over a decade. His exit marks the end of an era that has seen him at the forefront of government messaging and media relations, often acting as the face and voice of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM).
Why has he resigned?
“I think 26 years is sufficient,” Mr. Opondo stated, reflecting on his time serving as the NRM spokesperson and working closely with presidential task forces and other government arms. “This Thursday, I wrote to the president notifying him of the conclusion of my tenure in another three months. But I think that will be brought forward because on the 28th, I need to put in my resignation.”
The announcement comes at a pivotal time for Uganda’s political landscape, and Mr. Opondo’s pivot to elective politics is already stirring interest across party lines. He revealed that he has received strong backing from within the NRM as well as from some opposition figures—an unusual show of bipartisan support in Uganda’s typically polarized political environment.
“I have got good endorsements from my colleagues in the NRM, cabinet, and even in the opposition,” he said. “I’ve got people who have started putting money on the table to furnish my campaigns.”
What has Ofwono Opondo decided to do instead?
Opondo plans to contest for the MP seat representing the elderly in Eastern Uganda, currently held by Mr. Dominic Gidudu Mafabi, who also serves as the state minister for the elderly. With characteristic candor and confidence, Opondo declared: “I’m intending to take on my elder brother, Mr. Dominic Gidudu Mafabi. I have what it takes to knock him out.”
The decision to contest is particularly striking given Opondo’s past criticism of Parliament, where he has often lambasted MPs for what he described as “extravagance and incompetence.” He acknowledged the irony, stating, “I disagree with some of the things they (MPs) do as individuals and as a collective. We may not like the people occupying the institution, and that’s a fact of governance.”
Opondo’s resignation will officially mark the end of his stewardship at the Uganda Media Centre, which he led since July 1, 2013. His departure will not only leave a significant vacuum in the government’s communication machinery but also introduce a familiar and controversial figure into a new political arena—one he has both critiqued and defended in equal measure.
As the countdown to his resignation begins and his campaign machinery gains momentum, all eyes will be on how Opondo navigates the political battleground he once observed from behind the microphone.
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