A massive crowd filled Kyamate Primary School grounds in Ntungamo District on Thursday as NRM presidential flag bearer Yoweri Kaguta Museveni returned to a region he described as central to Uganda’s liberation history.
Accompanied by First Lady Janet Museveni, the President said his peaceful homecoming to Ntungamo, where he once passed “twice with a gun” during the struggles of 1979 and 1985, was a reminder of how far the country had progressed.
Museveni told supporters that the peace enjoyed today was the foundation upon which the NRM had built its development agenda.
He cited infrastructure expansion, improved agricultural support and increased social services as evidence of Uganda’s transformation. He assured residents that the road from Ntungamo to Rukungiri, now in poor condition, would be rehabilitated.
Turning to agriculture, the President said irrigation remained the biggest missing link for farmers in Ntungamo.
He shared his own experience under the Presidential Banana Initiative in Bushenyi, where irrigation and fertilizers boosted yields tenfold. He argued that farmers must move beyond dependence on rain and adopt modern production methods if they are to raise their household incomes.
Museveni also addressed complaints related to the Parish Development Model (PDM), warning officials against imposing illegal requirements on beneficiaries.
He said demanding land titles before releasing PDM funds contradicts the programme’s guidelines and urged residents to report officers who engage in corruption or extortion.
He called on households to take advantage of government programmes, emphasizing that prosperity begins at the family level.
For those with substantial land, he encouraged commercial agriculture, while smallholders were advised to adopt the four-acre model, which included enterprises such as coffee, poultry, piggery, and zero grazing.
The President recalled the difficulties of past decades, noting that health services between Mbarara and Kabale were once limited to a few dispensaries, unlike the wider network of health centers available today.
Earlier, First Lady Janet Museveni commended the district for its steady progress since its creation in 1993. She noted that Ntungamo now has five constituencies, 34 sub-counties, 135 parishes and more than 1,000 villages.
The population, she said, had grown from 380,000 in 2000 to 553,000 today—a rise she attributed to peace, improved health care and better living conditions.
She reported that government programmes, including PDM, Emyooga and youth and women empowerment initiatives, had injected over Shs53 billion into Ntungamo in the past five years. Of that amount, PDM contributed nearly Shs40 billion to more than 2,600 enterprise groups.
Janet Museveni also highlighted the education sector, noting the district’s 242 public primary schools, 22 public secondary schools, three vocational institutions and nearly Shs2 billion spent on school improvement. She said 57 roads had been maintained and 178 safe water sources established since 2021.
Despite these gains, she pointed to areas requiring renewed focus, including improved mobilization of youth and women, addressing illegal charges in UPE and USE schools, establishing additional health facilities in underserved parishes, increasing road funding and expanding water for production to support agricultural enterprises.
She also emphasized protecting wetlands around Lake Nyabihoko and harnessing River Rwizi for sustainable development.
Janet Museveni concluded by thanking residents for the overwhelming turnout, saying it signaled strong momentum toward the January 15, 2026, election. She urged every household to mobilize all eligible voters, warning that complacency could undermine a decisive victory.
