By Jumah Kakomo and Kabuye Ronald
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) Presidential candidate, has launched his campaign trail in the Busoga Sub-region with a maiden rally in Bugiri District, promising expanded job opportunities through intensified industrialization and wealth-creation initiatives.
Museveni said that ongoing industrialization efforts have already created employment for 1.3 million Ugandans, including thousands in the Busoga Sub-region. He noted that the NRM government will continue enrolling unemployed youth into manufacturing and commercial agriculture to boost household incomes.
Speaking at Bugiri District Headquarters, the NRM candidate outlined infrastructure priorities for the region, announcing three additional major tarmac road projects to be constructed. These include the Jinja–Mbulamuti Road, Iganga–Kiyunga–Kamuli Road, and several feeder roads within Bugiri District.
He also highlighted key roads already constructed or upgraded by the NRM government to support trade and mobility in the region: the Kampala–Jinja–Tororo Road, Jinja–Kamuli Road, Nakalama–Namutumba–Mbale Road, Musita–Namayingo Road, and the Iganga–Kaliro Road.
Museveni assured residents of Bugiri of “more steadfast development” and called on them to re-elect the NRM to continue ongoing progress. He emphasized that Bugiri and the wider Busoga Sub-region remain a priority for further socio-economic transformation.
The NRM candidate also pledged to scale up water distribution across Bugiri District through a new water-pump system drawing from Lake Victoria. He said the project would be benchmarked on the Katosi–Kampala and Lira water supply systems.
On rural electrification, Museveni committed to connecting the remaining sub-counties and feeder roads to the national grid, saying this would unlock new business opportunities and improve service delivery.
The President urged the people of Busoga to uphold unity, peace and development—values he said form the core of the NRM ideology. He warned against sectarianism and gender chauvinism, describing the NRM as a “clear-headed institution with firm national values.”
During the rally, Museveni directed Bugiri District authorities to adhere to the national policy of establishing one government primary school per parish and one secondary school per sub-county. This followed his discovery that the district’s 140 government-aided primary schools were concentrated in only 58 out of 102 parishes.
On health services, Museveni pledged to upgrade and construct new health centres across several parishes in the next term. He urged citizens to distinguish between infrastructure development and personal wealth creation, emphasizing the importance of both.
The NRM candidate also renewed his call for free universal education, labelling school fees in government schools “a weapon of mass destruction to children’s future.” He showcased graduates of the Presidential Industrial Skilling Hubs as evidence that free education can be transformative.
Addressing micro-land owners, Museveni promoted intensive farming as guided under the NRM’s 4-Acre Model, which he said has already created successful commercial farmers. He promised to expand wealth-creation funds to reach more sectors in Bugiri.
Local leaders, including 1st Deputy Prime Minister and NRM CEC Member Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga, and NRM 1st National Chairperson Hajji Moses Kigongo, also delivered remarks reinforcing the party’s development agenda for Busoga.
