YUMBE. Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) presidential candidate James Nathan Nandala Mafabi took his campaign to Yumbe and Koboko districts, pledging to end what he called decades of deliberate abandonment by the ruling government.
Nandala, who is currently traversing West Nile, made the promises on Thursday (November 12) after locals asked him to address the region’s burning challenges, which they said have affected them for nearly two decades.
These concerns echoed in every trading centre where Nandala stopped, as locals shared stories of survival in a region that feels forgotten.
“West Nile has only one farming season because of the drought. Women and children walk long distances to fetch water, and that has caused other problems, too. Some girls are exploited on the way to boreholes, that’s why when you look around, you will see many young girls pregnant. We need water for drinking, farming, and for our dignity,” said Yasin Bran, a boda boda rider in Yumbe town.
Even the few boreholes that exist, Bran said, often break down or dry up, leaving families to trek for miles.
“And this is the main town. Imagine what happens in the hard-to-reach areas,” he noted.
For locals, the region’s roads tell a story of exclusion. The Koboko–Yumbe–Moyo road, the main transport lifeline in the sub-region, remains dusty and full of potholes. The lack of tarmac has crippled trade and emergency services and slowed development in an area rich in agricultural potential.
“When it rains, we get stuck for hours. When it’s dry, dust covers our food and clothes. Thank God you are holding these rallies in dust rather than rain, otherwise your cars would get stuck on the way. It’s like this government forgot us and yet we vote them overwhelmingly,” said Moses Odong, a small trader in Koboko.
At his rallies in Yumbe town council, Wolo, Adravu, and Lima trading centre, which attracted big numbers, Nandala linked the people’s struggles to a national story of inequality and neglect.
“The dust and potholes we met on our way here helped us understand your pain. But this must end on January 15, 2026. We shall tarmac major roads, rebuild education, and revive the health system that has collapsed.”
A June 2025 study by the Islamic University in Uganda found that Yumbe has one of the country’s highest school dropout rates of around 77%, with girls most affected. Poverty, child labour, and lack of basic facilities like latrines and sanitary pads continue to push children out of school.
“No country develops without educating its children. An FDC government will tackle poverty head-on. We shall feed every school-going child so that hunger doesn’t chase them out of class,” Nandala said.
Nandala also laid out what he called a Water and Food Security Plan for the region, using River Nile to power irrigation schemes for smallholder farmers.
“We shall build irrigation systems that make agriculture possible all year round. Without water, there’s no life, without farming, there’s no economy,” he declared.
He promised that the FDC government would invest in community water projects and ensure that every farming cooperative has access to reliable irrigation systems.
The scars of past conflicts still linger in Yumbe, Moyo, and Obongi areas, once affected by rebel activity from the Lord’s Resistance Army and the Uganda National Rescue Front (UNRF I) led by Moses Ali. Many people say government compensation has been slow and selective.
“The NRM government keeps forming committees that don’t even understand what happened here. We shall fast-track compensation and ensure every survivor receives justice,” Nandala said.
He also vowed to establish a regional referral hospital, pay teachers and health workers fairly, and support poverty eradication programmes targeting rural households.
At Adravu trading centre, 27-year-old jobless teacher Grace Aringa said she felt hopeful for the first time in years.
“I once taught under a tree, earning little and struggling to survive. If he truly improves schools and pays teachers well, we’ll finally be respected, I hope I am also going to get a job,” she said.