Masaka City, Uganda: President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has rallied residents of Masaka City and the wider Greater Masaka sub-region to support National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidates and fully embrace government wealth-creation programmes, saying peace, development and economic empowerment remain the ruling party’s strongest legacy.
Addressing a massive rally at Liberation Square in Masaka City, Museveni, the NRM presidential candidate, said the ability to hold public gatherings and carry out development activities is anchored on the peace delivered by the NRM over the last four decades.
“The first major contribution of the NRM is peace. No one has brought peace to Uganda apart from the NRM,” Museveni said. “Everything you see happening here is possible because there is peace, and this peace exists because the NRM does not discriminate on the basis of tribe, religion, gender or any form of sectarianism.”
Museveni said peace laid the foundation for the second pillar of the NRM agenda—development—citing major infrastructure improvements nationally and within Greater Masaka. He recalled that when the NRM took power in 1986, critical routes such as the Katonga–Kabale road were impassable.
“We have worked on that road several times,” he said, adding that all district headquarters now have electricity, with power extended further to sub-counties.
The President revealed that Masaka District and Masaka City now have over 200 villages with access to piped water. However, he stressed that irrigation must be prioritised alongside clean water to boost agricultural productivity.
Museveni cautioned that Greater Masaka could be receiving even more government services if the area consistently elected leaders who understand how government operates.
“Some issues are national and I can follow them up myself, but many local issues require active Members of Parliament,” he said. “Unfortunately, some MPs you elected are just drawing salaries and keeping quiet.”
On household incomes, Museveni urged residents to abandon subsistence living and focus on wealth creation, reiterating the NRM’s long-standing message of working for both food and income.
“We advised people to use four acres; coffee, fruits, food crops and pasture, supported by poultry, piggery and fish farming,” he said, noting that families who adopted the model are now financially stable.
He disclosed that Masaka has received five million coffee seedlings and 440,000 fruit seedlings under government programmes, and announced plans to introduce special funds targeting fishermen, boda boda riders and ghetto dwellers.
“Poor people become a burden to government because they contribute little to national development,” Museveni said. “That is why you must embrace government wealth-creation programmes.”
The President said job creation would be driven mainly by commercial agriculture and industrialisation, highlighting factories and industrial parks as key absorbers of Uganda’s growing labour force.
NRM Leaders Speak
The NRM National Vice Chairperson Moses Kigongo thanked residents for their continued support and urged them to actively mobilise voters ahead of the elections. “I ask each of you to convince at least ten other people to come out and vote for President Museveni,” Kigongo said, calling for unity before, during and after the polls.
Second National Vice Chairperson (Female) and Speaker of Parliament Anita Annet Among highlighted government interventions that have benefited women and farmers, citing the construction of markets in Nyendo and Masaka Central.
She also thanked Museveni for granting Masaka city status, saying it accelerated service delivery and urban development. Among further noted that coffee farmers have received 10 coffee processing machines, with farmers now requesting fertilisers to increase yields.
Buganda Sub-region Vice Chairperson Haruna Kasolo praised security agencies for maintaining peace that allows free political participation. “People can now move freely, wear party T-shirts and attend political activities without intimidation,” Kasolo said.
Masaka City Woman MP contestant and NRM flagbearer Justine Nameere raised concerns over alleged voter intimidation in Greater Masaka, calling for respect for democratic freedoms.
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