Voter expectations high as Museveni campaigns in Teso's Kaberamaido, Kalaki

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President Yoweri Museveni is today, October 31, 2025, taking his 2026 re-election campaign to voters in the districts of Kaberamaido and Kalaki.

Museveni, who is seeking his seventh consecutive presidential term on the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party ticket, began his campaign trail in the Teso region with a rally in Kapelebyong district yesterday.

By the time of writing this story, he was set to hold his first campaign event of the day at Kaburepoli Primary School in Ochero sub-county, Kaberamaido, and the second and final rally at Kalaki Primary School playground in Kalaki town council, Kalaki.

Voter expectations

Voters in these two districts expect the incumbent President to address several challenges, including those related to cattle compensation. Other challenges being faced cut across the sectors of health, education, road network and transport, agriculture and food insecurity, water and sanitation, employment, poverty, energy/power, security, land management, business and economic issues, environment, domestic conflicts and leadership gaps.

In March 2022, the Government launched a cattle compensation programme with a budget of shillings 200 billion. The money was designed to compensate victims in the regions of Acholi, Lango and Teso whose livestock and property were lost during the past insurgencies and cattle raids. 

Over the years, the Government has aggressively implemented the cattle compensation programme. However, elders in these areas said that some families are yet to be compensated following the losses they faced after their animals were stolen by the Karimojong warriors and during the insecurity-related activities of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Alice Lakwena movement. 

“To date, the Government is yet to compensate many of the people who lost their animals despite the assurances. We hope that when the President is campaigning in Teso, he will respond to the compensation demands,” a prominent National Resistance Movement (NRM) elder said. 

He said the compensation claims in the Teso include those of the former Arrow Boys and those who lost their cattle to the Karimojong warriors. 

Recently, President Museveni endorsed recommendations from a consultation report on cattle compensation in the Teso, describing them as realistic, inclusive and transformative. 

Alfred Edakasi Mp Of Kaberamaido County With The Voters As A Head Of President Museni's Viit At Kaburepoli Ps In Ochero Sub County In Kaberamaido

During a meeting with a select committee led by Vice-President Jessica Alupo at State House, Entebbe last month, Museveni pledged that the report would be discussed in Cabinet, and would also incorporate ideas of people from Lango and Acholi, who equally suffered the brunt of the cattle raiding during the time of the conflict. 

The consultations, voters said, affirmed Museveni’s proposal for a uniform restocking plan of five cows per household in Teso. The region comprises 12 districts with an estimated 489,000 households, according to the 2024 National Population and Housing Census.

“We want the next government to handle the matter of cattle compensation that has taken long without being implemented,” Betty Apio from Kaberamaido said.

Kaberamaido has a population of 140,986 people scattered across nine sub-counties/town councils, 29 parishes and 234 villages, while Kilaki is inhabited by 149,736 people in 10 sub-counties/town councils, 34 parishes and 224 villages.

⁠In the 2021 general election, Kaberamaido had 52,210 registered voters. Out of these, 34,278 (65.6%) voted.  Museveni got 18,589 (56.4%) votes while his main challenger, Robert Kyagulanyi of the National Unity Platform party garnered 9,058 (27.6%).

The district now has a total of 64,167 voters and 147 polling stations, up from 95 in 2021.

Kalaki had 53,973 registered voters in the last general election and out of these, 35,878 (66.7%) voted.

Museveni polled 24,556 (71.4%) votes while Kyagulanyi got 3,839(11.2%).

Kalaki now has a total of 65,041 registered voters and 151 polling stations, up from 103 in 2021.

The main economic activities in both districts are agriculture and capture fisheries. There are also small and medium-scale enterprises, bodaboda riding and other petty trades.

The incumbent President is campaigning for a seventh term under the theme: Protecting the Gains, Making a Qualitative Leap into High Middle-Income Status.

The theme focuses on safeguarding achievements in the last 39 years, such as peace and development, while aiming to propel Uganda to a high middle-income status.