President Yoweri Museveni, has officially kicked off his campaign trail in the Busoga sub-region starting with Bugiri District.
Addressing thousands of supporters, President Museveni called on the residents of Bugiri to renew their trust in NRM by voting for him and other party candidates in the forthcoming general elections.
He said the NRM’s long-standing record on unity, peace and national development sets it apart from other political formations.
“I am here, together with other leaders, to ask you to support the NRM.We are a national party with a proven record. From the beginning, we rejected the sectarian politics that divided Uganda in the 1960s. We believe everyone is valuable and that is why Uganda is stable today,” he said.
The President outlined the government’s infrastructure achievements in Busoga, noting that the region has received a significant share of national development efforts.
“If you audit Busoga, you will see the development,” he said.
He highlighted the reconstruction of major highways including Jinja–Kampala, Jinja–Tororo and other regional roads. New tarmac roads, he said, have been added, such as Iganga–Kaliro and Busita–Namayingo.
President Museveni further assured the citizens that more key roads are lined for construction, including; Jinja–Kamuli–Mbulamuti,Iganga–Kiyunga–Kamuli as well as roads within Bugiri district, including Bugiri–Namayingo, among others.
On water access, the President explained that the geology of Lake Victoria basin makes boreholes unfeasible.
“Our plan is to pump water directly from Lake Victoria to the higher areas, just like we did in Lira where we pumped from Kachung, 21 miles away,” he noted.
“We are already supplying Kampala from Katosi. We shall do the same here so that the people of Bugiri get a reliable water supply.”
On education, President Museveni expressed concern about inequitable distribution of schools in Bugiri.
Bugiri District and Bugiri Municipality have 149 government primary schools, However, out of the district’s 102 parishes, 44 parishes still lack a government primary school.
“This must stop, we need to look into this issue of distribution seriously. I appeal to the NRM district chairperson, the RDC, DEOs to take it up. Let us ensure that every parish has a government primary school but not finding one parish with more schools yet there are those without any,” he said.
At the secondary level, Bugiri has 20 sub-counties, but only nine have government secondary schools.
To close this gap, he announced that three new seed secondary schools will be constructed under the Uganda Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers (UgIFT) program and the Uganda Secondary Education Expansion Project (USEEP).
“Our target is simple: every sub-county must have a secondary school,and every parish must have a government primary school,” he said.
The President also emphasized that wealth creation remains a core pillar of the NRM.
“Some people confuse development with wealth. Kampala has development, but some people in the ghettos are still poor. Wealth is created in four sectors: commercial agriculture, manufacturing, services and ICT,” he said.
He reiterated the long-standing four-acre model introduced in the 1996 manifesto and cited success stories even in remote areas like Karamoja.
To accelerate household incomes, he said the government will continue injecting money through the Parish Development Model (PDM), Emyooga and new targeted funds for youth groups, ghetto communities,boda bodas, unemployed university graduates, religious and cultural leaders.
The President also addressed misconceptions about job creation.
“Government jobs are 480,000, yet we have 50 million Ugandans. Real jobs come from wealth from factories, commercial agriculture, services and ICT. The factories alone now employ 1.3 million Ugandans, three times more than the government.”
On the other hand, President Museveni re-echoed his frustrations with the resistance against free education.
“We introduced free education in 1996 because we knew school fees would block many children, but some head teachers and PTAs refused to implement it. That’s why I started the Presidential Skilling Hubs,” he said.
President Museveni said the skilling hubs have already transformed young people who would otherwise be left behind.
The President also handed over the NRM flags to aspiring Members of Parliament, LC V chairperson, councillors, and other party candidates in Bugiri District, formally endorsing their participation in the upcoming elections.
On his part, Alhaji Kigongo thanked the people of Bugiri for supporting President Museveni and the NRM.
“We request your votes for the President. Once we are united, we can settle all issues. On voting day, go out and support our chairman,” he appealed.
Hon. Calvin Echodu, the NRM vice chairperson, Eastern Region said:“Your Excellency, you are no stranger to Busoga. The numbers here justify the strong support for you. We congratulate you on completing the Bukedi sub-region. Thank you, Busoga.”
Rt. Hon. Rebecca Kadaga, the First Deputy Prime Minister of Uganda and Minister for East African Community Affairs, also welcomed the President, urging focus on industrial and tourism development in the region.
“Your Excellency, we need safe water in Busoga, an issue that has been affecting our people. We also want to look forward to boosting tourism and creating more opportunities for our people.”
Hon. Solomon Silwany, the NRM chairperson for Bugiri district thankedthe President for his wise leadership that has brought development and elevated the livelihoods of the people in Busoga.
Bugiri District has made notable strides in education, healthcare, water access, and environmental anagement, reflecting the government’s continued commitment to regional development.
Bugiri District and municipality have a total of 149 primary schools serving 105,224 children. Of the district’s 102 parishes, 58 have at least one government primary school, leaving 44 parishes still without a primary school.
At the secondary level, the district has 9 government Secondary schools enrolling 10,699 students, and the Municipality has 1 school with 1,876 students.
Plans are underway to construct three new secondary schools under the UgIFT and USEEP programs. Once completed, the number of sub-counties without a government secondary school will drop from 11 to 8.
Busoga’s Presidential Industrial Skilling Hub, located in Jinja District, has trained 961 students in skills such as welding, carpentry, building construction, tailoring, bakery, hairdressing, and leather design, with 240 currently undergoing training.
Bugiri District’s health infrastructure comprises 1 hospital, 1 HCIV, and 11 HCIIIs, with 7 sub-counties still lacking a health facility of HCIII level or above. Plans are underway to upgrade Bugoyozi HCII to HCIII in Namayemba T/C, Busowa HCII to HCIII, Wagobo HCII to HCIII,Budhava HCII to HCIII, and to construct new HCIIIs in Buwumi TC,Muwayo TC, and Muterere S/C.
In the rural areas, 335 out of 498 villages (67%) have access to safe water, leaving 163 villages (32%) without safe water. Urban water projects completed include the Bugiri Town Council supply serving 54,970 people, Buwuni TC benefiting 11,680 residents, and Nankoma supply reaching 21,563 residents.
Future projects include the Namayemba piped water and sanitation system, while farmer support projects continue through Lwembe to promote water for production.
Bugiri District covers 22,760 hectares of wetland, of which 16,020 hectares (70.4%) have been degraded, leaving only 6,740 hectares (29.6%) intact.
The event was attended by NRM Central Executive Committee (CEC) members, Members of Parliament, religious and cultural leaders, as well as thousands of supporters.
