President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, the National Chairman and flag bearer for the National Resistance Movement (NRM), is currently engaged in an intensive nationwide tour, blending high-level performance assessment of key government programs with strategic political mobilization ahead of the 2026 general elections. The Western Uganda leg of this tour, particularly focusing on the mountainous Kigezi Sub-region (comprising districts like Kabale, Kisoro, Rubanda, and Rukiga), has dominated national headlines. The President’s message, delivered through a series of rallies, has been multi-faceted, emphasizing economic transformation, infrastructural development, environmental stewardship, and a historical defense of the NRM’s long-standing contribution to Uganda.
The President’s addresses in Kigezi—a region vital to the NRM’s historical and present political support—have hinged on three core themes: a rare commendation for local environmental conservation efforts, renewed pledges for key infrastructure projects, and a powerful call to citizens to move beyond public development (government work) and focus intensely on personal wealth creation.
Hailing Rukiga for Wetlands Conservation
One of the most notable features of the President’s Kigezi tour was his specific and effusive praise for the communities in the Rukiga District for their exemplary work in protecting and restoring the region’s ecologically vital wetlands. This praise directly relates to the government’s aggressive national policy on wetland restoration, driven by the realization that encroachment has severely compromised Uganda’s water security and climate resilience.
President Museveni used the platform to contrast Rukiga’s community-led conservation with the pervasive encroachment observed in many other parts of the country. He underscored the fundamental importance of wetlands, not just as biodiverse ecosystems, but as the natural reservoirs that sustain local agriculture and domestic water supply, particularly crucial in the hilly Kigezi terrain. The President’s focus on this issue is strategic, as it links the government’s commitment to environmental protection with local action, simultaneously urging others to follow suit while warning against the destructive practice of cattle rearing or unsustainable rice growing in these vital areas.
This message builds upon earlier directives where the President condemned the misuse of wetlands and advocated for their utilization solely for sustainable enterprises like fish farming, which do not degrade the natural resource. The President’s emphasis on Rukiga provided a regional success story, framing conservation as a patriotic and economically sensible act that complements the broader national wealth creation agenda.
The Promises; Pledging Roads, Tourism, and Industrial Development
As is customary during such high-profile tours, the President’s visit was accompanied by a slate of promises, primarily centered on crucial infrastructural needs that the local leaders and communities have long petitioned for. For the Kigezi Sub-region, which is famed for its high-value tourism (Gorilla tracking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park), the pledges were heavily focused on improving connectivity.
Key among the renewed pledges was the commitment to upgrade and tarmac vital tourism roads, including those leading directly to the national parks, such as the Kabale–Kisoro–Mgahinga National Park road and the Kisoro–Muko–Rukiri–Katoojo route. These projects, often cited in previous NRM manifestos, are critical for boosting the region’s economic potential by attracting high-end tourists who demand better infrastructure. Local leaders and stakeholders, including the Kigezi Tourism Cluster, have repeatedly highlighted the urgent need to fulfill these pledges, alongside the necessary expansion of airstrips, such as the one in Kisoro, to accommodate larger commercial aircraft.
Beyond tourism, the President recommitted the government to general development projects, including the establishment of an Iron Ore processing factory in Muko-Rubanda District, the tarmacking of the Muhanga-Kisiizi and Muhanga-Kamwezi border roads, and the continued support for the establishment of the Kisoro Industrial Park.
These infrastructure promises serve as a powerful political tool, reminding the electorate that the NRM government sees itself as the primary facilitator of development—the foundational public services and infrastructure (roads, electricity, schools, hospitals) that create the enabling environment for private sector-led wealth creation. The President used the opportunity, as he did in commissioning roads in Kabale Municipality funded under the Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development (USMID) program, to underscore that infrastructural investment remains a top financial priority for the government, despite global and domestic financial constraints.
Appreciating the NRM’s Contribution and the Call for Wealth Creation
At the heart of President Museveni’s rallies was a deliberate effort to reposition the National Resistance Movement’s contribution to Uganda’s journey of transformation. He repeatedly urged the people of Kigezi to appreciate the NRM’s overarching achievements, which he typically consolidates into seven core points:
- Peace and Security: Declared as the NRM’s greatest gift and the indispensable foundation for any progress, the President praised the residents for supporting efforts to secure the historically volatile border region.
- Infrastructure Development: The continuous expansion of roads, electricity, and telecommunications.
- Wealth Creation: The core current mission of moving all households from subsistence to the money economy.
- Job Creation
- Service Delivery
- Markets
- Political Stability and Unity
The President’s most profound philosophical distinction was drawn between “development” (government’s role) and “wealth” (the individual’s role). He repeatedly stressed that while the NRM has fulfilled its mandate of delivering public infrastructure—pointing to tarmac roads and power lines—poverty persists because individual households have not fully embraced commercial production.
This message is the engine driving the Parish Development Model (PDM), a program that the President heavily promoted in Kigezi. He appealed to local leaders to prioritize this wealth creation message, encouraging every household to adopt the four-acre model—a diversified approach involving high-value crops like coffee, fruits, food crops for the family, and pasture for dairy cattle.
Furthermore, the President took a hard stance against corruption within these wealth creation schemes, promising to ruthlessly deal with any perpetrators found extorting funds meant for the poor under the PDM, reiterating his directive that beneficiaries must receive their full entitlement.
Conclusion
President Museveni’s tour of the Kigezi Sub-region was a classic blend of political strategy, policy advocacy, and historical defense. By praising the people of Rukiga for their environmental stewardship, he demonstrated the government’s alignment with sustainable development goals. By renewing major infrastructure pledges, he sought to secure the political commitment of a strategically important region. Most importantly, by urging appreciation for the NRM’s historical contributions and differentiating between “development” and “wealth,” the President effectively laid the philosophical groundwork for the next political cycle: that the burden of poverty alleviation now rests squarely on the shoulders of individual families to leverage the peace and infrastructure delivered by the NRM. The next few months will show how the fulfillment of the mountain of promises made in Kigezi will influence the political landscape ahead of the 2026 elections.
