KAPELEBYONG. President Museveni, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) Presidential flag bearer, today kicked-off campaigns in Teso sub-region.
The rally took place at St. Francis Secondary School, Acumet, Kapelebyong District where Museveni who was accompanied by the First Lady Janet Kataaha Museveni spoke extensively about road maintenance challenges and accountability in local government.
“On the roads, there is some little problem, which I have ordered the Ministry of Works to stop, and also the Ministry of Local Government. They delay in maintaining tarmac roads and even the murram roads. For the local government, we are giving them Shs 1.3 billion per district per year. You find some of the local government roads are not maintained,” he said.
“I carried out some sample investigations, and it seems there is some corruption in local government, and instead of maintaining the roads, they divert the money to other things.”
He emphasized that the allocated funds are meant for maintaining existing roads, not constructing new ones.
“That Shs 1.3bn for the local government is supposed to maintain the murram roads, not make the new ones. If there is a need to do new roads, then there is a need to bring more money. We had calculated that the money would be enough to maintain the existing roads without any problem,” he said.
“But some roads are not maintained, and even when they try to maintain them, they do it carelessly. They just bring a grader and grade, and they don’t do drainage. When it rains, water collects on the road. So, you wonder, are these people making roads or swimming pools? I am going to deal with them because that money is coming. If the money is not enough, then say so.”
On tarmac roads, President Museveni acknowledged some improvement but stressed the importance of focused action.
“On the tarmac roads, there has been some learning by some of the actors. Some tackle too many things at a go. We, the bush fighters, concentrate on a few things and do them well. You have seen our soldiers staying in grass-thatched houses. This is because we don’t have enough money to do all things at a go. That’s how we are able to maintain peace in Uganda, by doing one thing at a time and not too many things,” he noted.
He also highlighted social and educational infrastructure progress in the region.
“On social infrastructure, I am happy to know that there are 10 secondary schools in Kapelebyong alone. When I come here and see that, it shows how far we have come. Some schools like Sir Samuel Baker and Teso College were only O’ level schools, not A-level. This progress gives me hope.”
Reflecting on the NRM’s achievements and political journey, President Museveni said, “Maama and I are happy to come here to present the manifesto of the NRM 2026-31. We have been active in politics for the last 65 years, some of the elders have gone to be with the Lord.”
“On peace, you know what was happening here: the rebels, the cattle rustlers, the IDPs. This was a new Uganda. We had been in wars for a long time, but since 2007, we have been able to defeat and bring peace in Uganda and disarm the cattle rustlers in Karamoja.”
On economic infrastructure, President Museveni highlighted major road projects in Teso.
“In Teso, we have been able to do quite a bit. We have tarmac roads all the way from Soroti to Moroto, Soroti to Katine to Dokolo-Lira to Kamdin, the road to Mbale, the road through Tirinyi to Kumi. We are planning to do the other roads from Soroti to Amuria to Obalanga to Achanpi all the way to Otuke to Abim and other roads.”
President Museveni also announced plans to restock livestock in Teso, Lango, and Acholi, proposing five cows per homestead as a democratic and transformative approach.
“Recently I called your leaders and asked why we don’t have a democratic formula for restocking. I proposed five cows per homestead. The majority supported it, and I have instructed the government to plan for it,” President Museveni said.
“Thank you so much for your love and for really standing in the rain and supporting NRM. NRM is Uganda’s party; it is building Uganda. It is trying to ensure that all our children can live a better life than we, their parents, lived. That’s why NRM wants all school-going children to access education. That’s why it introduced UPE and USE,” he said.
“The intent hasn’t worked so well as it was meant to do, because when it opened its doors for all children of Uganda, the numbers of children multiplied and tripled. The teachers were no longer enough for the numbers of children in schools, and because of that, the headteachers and the PTAs started bringing in private teachers, but then they had to start asking parents to pay salaries of teachers.”
On her part, Maama Janet emphasized the government’s plans to address the challenge of charging fees in government schools.
“That is why the President is saying in the coming Kisanja government, we will make sure that all teachers will be paid by the government and there will be no costs in the UPE and USE schools.”
“Therefore, that’s why it is so important that we support and vote for the President and the NRM, so that the NRM can continue to lead this nation and make it better by the day. That is our responsibility as all Ugandans above 18 years to support NRM with our votes,” she added.
She concluded with a call for civic participation and nation-building.
“And families, as you are saying, will be building better homes, and so it is our responsibility, please, to make sure that you vote for the NRM. God bless Kapelebyong, God bless Teso, God bless Uganda.”
NRM impact in Kapelebyong:
Kapelebyong District has registered steady progress in infrastructure, social services, and community development programmes, according to the latest government report outlining achievements across key sectors.
Located in eastern Uganda, the district has one constituency, 11 sub-counties and town councils, 56 parishes, and 341 villages with a total population of 143,536 people as per the 2024 census report.
The government has continued to make good on its promise to compensate families affected by past cattle raids. In Kapelebyong, 402 compensation claims were submitted, with 228 claimants already paid a total of Shs 3.9 billion, while 174 claims remain pending.
Under the Parish Development Model (PDM), Kapelebyong District which has 55 parishes has so far received Shs 17 billion, of which Shs 16.8 billion (98.96%) has already been disbursed to 17,014 beneficiary households.
With a total of 31,529 households, this means 53% of all households in Kapelebyong have benefited directly from the PDM programme, while the remaining 14,515 households include those already participating in the money economy.
Through the Presidential Emyooga Initiative, the district’s single constituency has established 18 SACCOs with 11,029 members. To date, the government has disbursed Shs 920 million to these groups to support enterprise development and savings.
The education sector has also registered notable improvement. The district currently has 41 government primary schools enrolling 39,027 pupils, and eight government secondary schools with 3,285 students — all benefiting from Universal Secondary Education (USE) and Universal Post-Ordinary Level Education and Training programmes.
However, gaps remain of the 56 parishes, only 28 have a government primary school, leaving 28 parishes still without one. Similarly, out of 11 sub-counties, only six have a government secondary school.
Plans are underway to construct an additional secondary school under the Uganda Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers (UgIFT) and the Uganda Secondary Education Expansion Project (USEEP).
In line with President Museveni’s skilling initiative, the Teso Zonal Industrial Hub, located in Soroti District, has so far trained 951 youths in fields such as welding, carpentry, tailoring, construction, hairdressing, bakery, and leather design.
Kapelebyong has one Health Centre IV and five Health Centre IIIs, leaving five sub-counties without a facility of HCIII level or higher.
Plans are in place to upgrade Angerepo HCII (Acowa Sub-county) and Okoboi HCII (Kapelebyong Sub-county) to HCIII status, while new HCIIIs are planned for Acinga, Obalanga, and Akore sub-counties.
Water access remains a major focus. Out of 341 villages, 109 have access to safe water, representing 35% coverage, while 232 villages (65%) still lack clean water.
The Kapelebyong Town Piped Water Supply and Sanitation Project, now complete, serves 3,178 people. Additionally, two production wells have been established to boost water availability.
Ongoing efforts include a new piped water system under design and construction, with future plans to expand the Kapelebyong system and develop a new water supply project in Obalanga Town.
Under the Water for Production initiative, the government has completed feasibility studies and constructed major facilities such as the Odukul Flood Mitigation Valley Tank (30 million litres) and the Odimai Valley Tank (30 million litres) to support irrigation and livestock.
In the last eight years, a total of 203 kilometres of roads have been paved in and around the district. Completed projects include: Tirinyi–Pallisa–Kumi and Kumi–Mukongoro–Pallisa (111km), Soroti–Arapai (8km), Arapai–Katakwi (44km), Katakwi–Irrir (40km), Kumi–Ladot (26km) and Kumi Town roads (12.2km).
Ongoing national road works include the Soroti–Lira–Kamdini (189km) and Tororo–Mbale–Soroti (150.8km) highways, among others.
Other roads such as Amuria–Amucu–Kapelebyong (35.8km) are under procurement, while designs are underway for Amuria–Kuju–Obalanga–Alito (39km) and several key inter-district links to improve connectivity across the region.
The campaign is running under the theme: “Protecting the Gains, As We Make a Qualitative Leap into High Middle-Income Status.”
The event was graced by NRM Central Executive Committee (CEC) members, Members of Parliament, religious and cultural leaders, as well as thousands of supporters.