President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has tasked NRM district chairpersons to spearhead mobilisation efforts aimed at helping communities embrace government wealth-creation programmes, declaring that Uganda’s next decisive battle is the elimination of household poverty.
Congratulating the leaders upon their election and for mobilising support for the NRM, Museveni described the recently concluded campaigns as among the most cohesive in three decades, comparable only to the 1996 elections. He said the country demonstrated a level of unity and confidence not seen in years.
The President hosted district, municipality and city NRM chairpersons at State House Entebbe on Friday, February 13.
Referring to his post-election statement published on February 12, 2026, the NRM National Chairman reflected on what he termed 30 years of political analysis and ideological clarity.
He said the Movement’s historic mission has been to identify and eliminate “mikyeno” – bottlenecks that hinder societal progress.
By 1996, he argued, the NRM had addressed key “Mikyeno,” including insecurity, sectarianism, electoral malpractice, economic shortages and dilapidated infrastructure – hence the rallying call at the time of “No Change, No Cause.”
However, Museveni acknowledged that new challenges later emerged. While peace and stability were secured, citizens began asking, “Tulya ddembe?” – “Do we eat peace?” Poverty, school fees, corruption and unemployment became the new obstacles requiring urgent action.
He said this “unfinished business” is what district chairpersons must now confront directly.
“If we pursue the mikyeno and use government resources to solve those mikyeno,” he said, cohesion will be sustained and economic growth accelerated.
The President cautioned Members of Parliament and local government leaders to focus on wananchi’s real concerns rather than peripheral issues such as travel and allowances. Leadership, he emphasised, must be about solving people’s problems.
Museveni recalled introducing early poverty-eradication interventions such as Entandikwa (interest-free capital at sub-county level), Universal Primary Education (UPE), and land reforms anchored in the Constitution and the Land Act.
Despite implementation challenges, he said he pressed on with successive initiatives including NAADS, Operation Wealth Creation (OWC), Emyooga, and Youth and Women Funds.
He revealed that by 2019, 61 percent of households had joined the money economy, leaving 39 percent still in subsistence production.
Operation Wealth Creation, he said, helped reduce subsistence levels partly through army-supervised distribution of seedlings and inputs at sub-county level.
However, complaints that programmes benefited only connected individuals -“Begabila bokka” – led to the introduction of the Parish Development Model (PDM).
Under PDM, funds are channelled through parish-level SACCOs where communities elect committees and prioritise beneficiaries. Museveni said that where it has been implemented effectively, wananchi have described it as a “silver bullet” to many of their challenges.
He indicated that more funding will continue to flow through PDM, stressing that poverty eradication is central to addressing unemployment.
The Three-Pronged Strategy
Addressing district leaders, Museveni outlined a three-pronged strategy to consolidate Uganda’s socio-economic transformation:
1. Empower the Masses
The first pillar aims to lift households from subsistence into the money economy through PDM, Emyooga and other pro-mass programmes. Leaders were urged to ensure equitable access and strict supervision.
“First buyer is our people,” Museveni said, explaining that increased household incomes would boost domestic demand for locally produced goods such as milk, maize, coffee and manufactured products.
2. Economic Transformation
The second pillar focuses on structural transformation – shifting Uganda from a largely agrarian economy to one driven by value addition, manufacturing and services.
Museveni called for stronger support to manufacturers and the service sector through institutions such as the Uganda Development Bank (UDB). He emphasised resolving bottlenecks in industrial parks, including electricity, roads and water.
He noted growth in production, citing coffee output rising from three million to nine million bags, milk production reaching 5.3 billion litres, maize at five million tonnes, alongside growth in livestock and other commodities. The next step, he said, is value addition and industrialisation.
3. Market Expansion
The third pillar is expanding markets. Museveni stressed that domestic demand must be strengthened first as poverty declines and incomes rise.
“Increasing demand for local products will then progress to regional markets,” he said, linking poverty eradication to sustainable economic growth under Pan-African frameworks.
A Political Mandate for Economic Action
Museveni said the positive atmosphere he encountered across 143 rallies in 153 districts reflected growing public appreciation of pro-mass programmes.
However, he warned against complacency among leaders, cautioning against what he termed “Najja-kulya” politics.
He urged district chairpersons to remain grounded, work closely with communities, and ensure government resources are used transparently and effectively.
“The struggle now is against poverty,” Museveni said. “If we solve the mikyeno of the masses, there will be cohesion, growth and prosperity.”
The meeting was attended by members of the NRM Central Executive Committee and the party Secretariat leadership.
NRM Deputy Secretary General Rose Namayanja hailed the President’s electoral victory, saying the margin of more than five million votes over the runner-up reflected national unity behind Museveni’s message.
Namayanja attributed the success to what she described as a three-pronged campaign strategy devised by the party chairman, implemented by zonal leaders from the Secretariat, and executed by district chairpersons at grassroots level.
She dismissed claims of electoral rigging, arguing that the Opposition’s losses across multiple levels of leadership rendered such allegations unfounded.
