Museveni warns against poverty mindset, unveils service plans for Bugweri

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Crowds filled Kyabazinga Grounds in Bugweri district as President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni held his second rally in the Busoga sub-region, using the campaign stop to reflect on Uganda’s history while promising renewed attention to gaps in local infrastructure and social services.

The NRM presidential candidate appeared alongside First Lady Janet Kataaha Museveni, who on Monday (November 17) joined him in calling for strong mobilisation ahead of the 2026 elections.

Museveni recounted his early resistance activities against Idi Amin, telling the crowd that he had worked in the region with prominent figures who later suffered under the regime.

“I was here in 1973, fighting Idi Amin with Engineer Kasadha. We went to Mayuge and later to Jinja. I salute the families in Busoga who worked with us in fighting Idi Amin,” he said, according to a release from the Presidential Press Unit.

He invoked the memories of Busoga sons who suffered during the dark political years, including Hajji Balunywa, Shaban Nkuutu, Nkooto, Ntale, and others who were killed or forced into exile, such as Waluma, Kasadha, Kibedi, and Mbigiti.

“In the last 40 years, we have had seven contributions to Uganda, and the first one is peace. You know what lack of peace means and how many people died.”

Turning to service delivery concerns, the President acknowledged Bugweri’s limited road equipment and said government would intervene.

“Your district does not have enough road equipment. I’m going to sort that one out. I got a lot of equipment from Japan to ensure every district has what it takes to maintain its roads,” President Museveni said.

He cited ongoing and completed road works such as Nawangisa–Buseesa–Nakivumbi–Ndongwe–Iganga, and promised to personally follow up on the less familiar routes presented to him. District leaders later reinforced this demand, including calls for the tarmacking of Nawangisa–Nakivumbi with a spur to Iganga and Mayuge.

The President also noted improvements in water access, explaining that 84 per cent of the district now has safe water. On electricity, he pointed to ongoing connections from district headquarters to sub-counties and villages, saying the roll-out demonstrated steady progress.

Museveni raised concerns about gaps in education infrastructure, particularly parishes without government primary schools, and urged leaders to address the imbalance, reminding them that national policy requires one government primary school per parish and one government secondary school per sub-county. Bugweri’s eight sub-counties currently have five government secondary schools, but the ongoing construction of two seed secondary schools will ensure each sub-county has one.

He criticised illegal school charges and argued that they were driving dropouts, pointing to the role of Presidential Skilling Hubs in offering free training to young people. 

Testimonials from youth who had completed courses in tailoring, bakery, construction and other trades drew loud support from the crowd. The President used their experiences to caution leaders against undermining education access.

“When God gives you the chance to lead, you should be very careful,” he said. “If you’re leaders and you deny education to these children, you are denying God.”

He also addressed health service gaps, listing facilities earmarked for upgrades and new investments. He noted that Bugweri District has one HCIV in Bugweri Constituency with two doctors and an ambulance, six HCIIIs, ten HCIIs, and two sub-counties that still lack any health facility.

“We plan to upgrade Busesa HCIV to a general hospital. We shall upgrade Idudi HCII to HCIII in Idudi town council and upgrade Nsale HCII to HCIII in Ibulanku subcounty,” he said. Ongoing works include the expansion of the Busesa HCIV maternity ward and the construction of incinerators at Busembatia HCIII, Nawangisa HCIII, and Minani HCIII.

In his remarks on wealth creation, Museveni warned residents against assuming that infrastructure alone would lift them out of poverty.

“I passed here in 1965, going to Teso College and Gulu to play games there. This road was already tarmacked from Kabale all the way to Soroti, and we have been repairing it several times. But even if you go today, you will find poor people near that tarmac road, yet development was there 60 years ago,” President Museveni said.

He restated the NRM’s four-acre model and pointed to farmers making significant returns from crops, livestock and fish farming, such as one in Abim earning sh36 million annually from mangoes.

Museveni said his Barlege farm in Lira, where he has a 20 m × 50 m fishpond, generates sh100 million per year, while MP Fred Byamukama’s 4-acre enterprise, which employs 26 people, makes sh108 million per month from poultry alone.

The President criticised political actors who demand government jobs for everyone. “Those who tell you to wait for government jobs are enemies of Uganda,” he said, citing the Sino-Mbale Industrial Park’s 75 factories employing 12,000 people as evidence of the NRM’s job creation strategy.

First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Mrs Janet Museveni, urged residents to safeguard the peace and freedoms the NRM says it has secured.

“Please remember on that day of voting, you need to go in person to vote for your own President Museveni and the whole lineup of NRM flag bearers so that you allow NRM to continue to protect this peace in our country and the freedom to work hard so that our country becomes better than it has been,” she said.

Several key NRM leaders delivered remarks reaffirming their support for President Museveni while also outlining the region’s priorities.

Al-Hajji Moses Kigongo, the NRM First National Vice Chairman, urged Busoga to support President Museveni for continued peace and cautioned local leaders against internal conflicts as the election season approaches.

Calvin Echodu, the NRM vice chairperson for eastern Uganda, welcomed President Museveni “back home” to Busoga and praised Bugweri leaders for their effective mobilisation.

“And these people are here because they are rallying and uniting around you. Busoga is very excited, and we thank you for being a uniting point for Busoga,” Echodu said.

The First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for East African Community Affairs, Rebecca Kadaga, also welcomed the President to Bugweri and presented several district demands. She highlighted the need for an additional constituency and noted that many sub-counties still lack essential services.

Kadaga also appealed to the President to prioritise the construction of the Nondwe–Busembatya road. In addition, she informed him that the current PDM allocation is inadequate for Bugweri due to the district’s large parish populations.