KAKUMIRO, Uganda — President Yoweri Museveni wrapped up a weeklong campaign swing through the Bunyoro sub-region on Monday, urging voters in Kakumiro District to support the National Resistance Movement in the 2026 elections, citing the party’s record on peace, infrastructure and wealth creation.
Addressing a rally at Kakeeta Playground, Museveni, the NRM’s presidential flag bearer, outlined what he called the party’s seven historic contributions since taking power in 1986, with peace as the foundational achievement.
“You remember when we came into government, even before that, Uganda was in endless wars. The NRM finished all that, and now we have total peace,” Museveni said.
He said sustained peace allowed for long-term development, pointing to improved roads, schools and health facilities in Bunyoro. Museveni pledged to upgrade key roads in Kakumiro, including the Kazo–Kabagore–Kyegegwa–Karuguza and Kisiita–Nkooko–Masode–Ntwetwe routes.
The rally capped a tour that also included Hoima, Masindi, Kibaale, Buliisa, Kiryandongo, Kagadi and Kikuube districts.
On education, President Museveni cited district-level statistics to illustrate both progress and remaining gaps. Kakumiro District currently has 83 government primary schools and 375 private primary schools, as well as nine government secondary schools and 35 private secondary schools.
He noted that the nine government secondary schools offer Universal Secondary Education (USE) and Universal Post Ordinary Level Education and Training (UPOLET), with a combined enrollment of 4,898 learners.
Kakumiro has 105 parishes, of which 44 host at least one government primary school, leaving 61 parishes without a public primary school.
“I see you have many private schools where you rich people teach your children. All these private schools mean you have income, and you’re rich people,” he said, in a light-hearted remark that drew laughter from the crowd.
In the health sector, President Museveni acknowledged service delivery gaps, revealing that out of Kakumiro’s 24 sub-counties, only two have Health Centre IV facilities, while 17 have Health Centre III facilities. Five sub-counties — Mpasaana, Kisiita, Nalweyo, Kikoora and Bwanswa — lack a health facility at the level of HCIII, HCIV or hospital.
To address this, the President announced the upgrading of Kakumiro Health Centre IV in Bugangaizi South to a general hospital.
“We are going to upgrade Kakumiro HCIV to a general hospital,” he said.
He also pledged to upgrade Kisiita Health Centre III in Bugangaizi East to HCIV status and to construct new HCIII facilities in Mpasaana, Kisiita, Nalweyo, Kikoora and Bwanswa sub-counties.
Regarding electricity and water coverage, President Museveni reported that Kakumiro District is already connected to the national electricity grid and committed the government to extending power to the remaining four sub-counties — Bwanswa, Kyabasaija, Mpasaana, and Nkooko — in the next term.
On water, he said that out of 585 rural villages, 540 have access to a safe water source, translating into 92 per cent coverage, leaving 45 villages without safe water.
“These are the issues we are systematically addressing so that development reaches every Ugandan,” he said.
The President stressed that infrastructure alone cannot eliminate poverty unless it is matched with deliberate efforts to raise household incomes. He said this thinking informed the rollout of wealth-creation programmes such as Entandikwa, Operation Wealth Creation (OWC), Emyooga, and the Parish Development Model (PDM).
According to official statistics, Kakumiro District has 105 PDM SACCOs, which have cumulatively received Shs37.56 billion. Of this amount, Shs32.79 billion, about 87.3 per cent, has been disbursed to 32,806 beneficiary households.
Out of the district’s 103,613 households, about 31.7 per cent have directly benefited from PDM, leaving a balance of 70,807 households, including those already participating in the money economy.
Under Emyooga, Kakumiro has 54 SACCOs with 17,656 members, and the government has disbursed Shs2.46 billion to support enterprise development.
President Museveni revisited the NRM’s long-standing message on household wealth creation, dating back to the 1996 manifesto, which promoted the four-acre model for smallholder farmers.
“In 1996, we told you to stop working only for the stomach but also for the pockets,” he said.
Under the model, farmers are encouraged to allocate land strategically: one acre for a cash crop such as coffee, one for food crops, one for fruits or pasture for zero-grazing, and diversified enterprises such as poultry, piggery, or fish farming in the backyard.
To illustrate this, President Museveni cited several demonstration farms, including the Kamanyire Demonstration Farm in Kakumiro, owned by State Minister for Transport Fred Byamukama.
Hon. Byamukama’s four-acre farm integrates coffee, bananas, pineapples, poultry, dairy, and piggery. The farm keeps more than 200 pigs and over 25,000 layers producing about 300 trays of eggs daily, as well as eight dairy cows yielding about 120 litres of milk per day.
“Byamukama is using four acres to create wealth for himself and others,” President Museveni said.
The President also cited examples from regions often perceived as poor to demonstrate that wealth creation is driven more by enterprise selection than by infrastructure alone.
He referred to Korea Dick Ogira, a model farmer in Abim District, Karamoja, who received 200 mango seedlings under OWC and Shs1 million through PDM. Ogira intercropped mangoes with cassava on two acres and earned Shs 12 million in the first year from mango sales.
“That man is in Abim, Karamoja, where there is no tarmac road, but he is creating wealth,” Museveni said. “Development is not there, but wealth is there.”
He further cited his own Baralege model farm in Lira District, where he practises integrated agriculture combining dairy zero-grazing, fish farming, coffee, fruits and bananas.
“From my fishpond of 20 metres by 100 metres, I get about Shs100 million per year. After costs, I remain with Shs 70 million,” he said.
On employment, President Museveni said sustainable job creation comes mainly from commercial agriculture, manufacturing, artisanship, services, and information and communications technology, rather than public service.
He highlighted the success of Johnson Basangwa, a poultry farmer in Kamuli District whose enterprise employs more than 300 workers and earns an estimated Shs20 million per day from egg sales.
“That wealth has produced 300 jobs,” President Museveni said, urging Ugandans to embrace enterprise rather than focusing solely on elective or public offices.
He also cited industrial parks such as Sino–Mbale, which employs about 12,000 workers, and Namanve Industrial Park, hosting 273 factories employing over 24,000 people, as evidence of the NRM’s industrialisation drive.
The Prime Minister and Kakumiro Woman Member of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Robinah Nabbanja thanked President Museveni for elevating Kakumiro to district status and for allocating Shs3.6 billion for the construction of the district administration block, which the President commissioned earlier in the day.
She also expressed gratitude for the appointment of ministers from Bunyoro, including Finance Minister Matia Kasaija, Transport Minister Fred Byamukama, and others.
“We shall not disappoint you,” Rt. Hon. Nabbanja said, calling on residents to vote for President Museveni and the NRM to consolidate development gains.
She raised concerns over land disputes in Kakumiro, Kibaale, and Kagadi districts, calling for increased funding of the land fund to compensate absentee landlords.
Kakumiro district NRM chairperson, Hon. Fred Byamukama presented a memorandum highlighting gains in peace, infrastructure, and service delivery. He said Kakumiro has 656 kilometres of tarmac roads and 1,112 kilometres of good marram roads, with clean and safe water coverage in 551 out of 593 villages.
Hon. Byamukama said electricity coverage stands at about 66 per cent and appealed for the establishment of a district hospital to reduce reliance on facilities in neighbouring districts.
Kakumiro District has 24 sub-counties and town councils, 105 parishes and 585 villages, with a population of 428,176 according to the 2024 census.
In the 2021 presidential elections, the district had 140,691 registered voters, of whom 63.6 per cent turned up to vote. President Museveni garnered 84.9 per cent of the votes cast.
By 2025, the number of registered voters had risen to 174,170, an increase of 33,479, with polling stations growing from 317 to 445.
As he concluded his Bunyoro campaign trail, President Museveni urged voters to back the NRM in 2026, arguing that the party’s record in peace, development, wealth creation, and job generation provides a clear roadmap for Uganda’s future.
