President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni on Thursday unveiled the NRM Manifesto to thousands of supporters in Ntungamo District, urging residents to embrace government programmes and reject corruption in the run-up to the 2026 general elections.
Speaking at Kyamate Primary School grounds, Museveni said the turnout showed strong confidence in the NRM, a party he credited with ending the insecurity that once defined the region. He told residents that his peaceful return to Ntungamo symbolised Uganda’s transformation since the liberation wars of 1979 and 1985.
“Here in Ntungamo, I passed twice with a gun. But now we have come in peace, and I must thank God for that,” he said. “God has used NRM to bring peace to Uganda.”
Museveni centred his message on peace, infrastructure and household wealth creation. He assured residents that the dilapidated road to Rukungiri would be rehabilitated. He said Ntungamo’s biggest agricultural challenge remains the absence of irrigation, which limits productivity.
“Irrigation has enabled me to set up a very successful farm in Bushenyi,” he said. “We harvest ten times more because of irrigation and fertilizers. Relying on God alone for rainfall is not a religious practice, we must embrace irrigation.”
The President said government-supported irrigation schemes would boost yields and strengthen household incomes. He reminded residents that wealth starts at individual level.
“Poverty is yours as an individual just like wealth is yours,” he said, urging citizens to utilise programmes such as the Parish Development Model.
Museveni warned local officials against demanding land titles from PDM beneficiaries, saying the requirement violates programme rules.
“This is totally wrong,” he said. “PDM rules do not indicate that you must have land or any form of security. As long as you have a viable project, you should be able to receive support.”
He cited the example of Ayesiga Kenneth of Nyamirama in Kanungu, who used PDM funds to rent premises and start a restaurant despite not owning land. The President also cautioned against bribery in district recruitment processes, encouraging citizens to report corrupt officials.
Museveni noted that the district has made significant progress in health, contrasting today’s facilities with the few dispensaries that existed between Mbarara and Kabale decades ago. He advised farmers with smaller land holdings to adopt the four-acre model involving coffee, poultry, animal feeds, piggery, fish farming and zero grazing.
Earlier, the First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Maama Janet Museveni, presented a detailed assessment of Ntungamo’s growth since it became a district in 1993. She said the district now has five constituencies, 34 sub-counties, 135 parishes and more than 1,000 villages.
She reported that the population has expanded from 380,000 in 2000 to 553,000 today, driven by peace and improved health care. She said Ntungamo remains one of Uganda’s largest districts because leaders followed the President’s guidance not to split it.
Over the last five years, she said, the district has received UGX 53 billion through government programmes. PDM alone contributed UGX 39.7 billion to more than 2,600 enterprise groups. She listed 242 public primary schools, 22 public secondary schools, three vocational institutions, and nearly UGX 2 billion invested in school infrastructure.
Since 2021, 57 roads have been maintained and 178 safe water sources constructed across the district.
She highlighted priority areas for the next term, including improved youth and women mobilisation, construction of new health facilities, eliminating illegal school charges, establishing a public secondary school in Nyabihoko Town Council, increasing road funding, supporting value addition and tackling acaricide-resistant ticks.
Maama Janet thanked the people of Ntungamo for the large turnout and urged them to vote in big numbers on January 15, 2026.
“For those who think the President has already won, please do not stay at home,” she said. “Victory, especially a historic one requires everyone to vote.”