It was all jubilation as all leaders in Kasanda District gathered to commemorate 37 years of NRM leadership and led by Minister of Lands Housing and Urban Development Judith Naluule Nabakooba, they endorsed President Yoweri Museveni as the NRM sole candidate for the 2026 general elections.
Political observers have been taken by surprise about the early endorsements for presidential elections since the elections are three years away. Already , the NRM ruling party has two camps one rooting for Museveni’s son Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba aka as MK “the Generation leader” under the tag ‘Standby Generator’ one the one hand and the legends under the tag ” Mzee Tova Ku Main” on the other hand .
But the leaders in Kasanda joined their colleagues from other districts to jointly appreciated President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni for his effort to transform Uganda from where it was in 1986.
Minister Nabakooba who was the guest of honor urged NRM leaders to spearhead the battle against corruption as instructed by the party chairman who is President Museveni.
She thanked the President for appointing Coordinators under ONC to monitor government programs and NRM Manifesto, which she said will help in the running of the party activities all over the country.
She also demonstrated the need for president Museveni to contest again in 2026 for the continuity of development. She urged the people of Kassanda District to fight poverty by taking part in projects that bring money to alleviate poverty in the long run.
Nabakooba who was speaking at the 37th Anniversary celebrations of the NRM victory in Kassanda District on February 15 thanked the People of Kasanda for the support they have for government and the NRM party in particular.
She said they have demonstrated good leadership and faith in government by continuously voting for capable and determined leaders and government will continue to do whatever it takes to work with them in realizing the national targets in wealth creation.
“As you may be aware, currently our Excellency the President is pushing for improving livelihoods through the critical pillars. His Excellency is calling upon us to focus on the critical areas of development and wealth, Mass Education, stamping out corruption and sectarianism especially in government offices and environment,” she said.
Nabakooba urged the leaders and locals in the district to reflect upon these issues in efforts to improve their livelihoods.
During her tour of the district, the minister also laid a wreath at a monument at Bukuya SS put up in the 80s in memory of the liberators and their sacrifice, visited Kijuna Health Centre 3 and Bukuya Health Centre 4 which is under construction by UPDF Engineering brigade.
While at the health facility, she also launched the measles vaccination for Kassanda District which had failed to kick off because of the Ebola lockdown. The vaccination exercise that is going to last for five days targets children aged 0 to five years of age.
Nabakooba who was made aware that the Parish Development Model (PDM) money was still at parish accounts advised locals to seek information on how target households can access it, urging them to monitor the Shs2.8bn government allocated to the district for PDM.
She called upon people to respect each other’s right to own land and always follow the law whenever there is an issue that needs to be addressed.
“I want to thank the RDCs and the security committees for your tireless efforts against illegal evictions. As government, we have studied the problem of dual ownership. Most of these illegal evictions happen because of the crisis between land lords and bibanja owners,” she said.
The minister added that they therefore decided to eliminate this problem by paying land lords and enabling bibanja owners to get land titles.
“We are working with our development partners such as GIZ and soon this program will be starting here as well. We are going to embark on training duty bearers on matters of land management and conflict resolution. We are aware of the issues in Kitumbi, Kamusenene, and we are pursuing efforts to settle your land ownership issues.”
In his remarks, Michael Wamuntu, the Parish Development Model (PDM) Focal Person of Kassanda District Local Government said the political wing has been so supportive during the sensitisation and training of PDM in the district.
He said the PDM steering committee chaired by the C.A.O has supported the whole process and the population has seriously embraced the PDM programme in the district.
Mr Wamuntu said that the Ebola outbreak slowed down the pace of implementation of PDM activities in the district. He explained that the recovery from the Ebola pandemic is a slow process thus affecting the pace of implementation of the programme.
“The public still have a mind-set that this money is an appreciation from the government therefore a lot needs to be done to change their mind set so that they understand this is seed money meant to help them overcome the injustices of poverty, it should be used cautiously,” he said.
Others present were RDC Kibuuka Amooti, and Deputy RdC Kalema Fred Pax among other leaders who agreed to endorse President Museveni to stand again in 2026 and beyond under the slogan “Omalako Jajja Tova Ku Main”
The newly appointed ONC Coordinators for greater Mubende Mr Mutagobwa Godfrey and Ms Namuddu Patience appreciated president Museveni and SPA/PA-ONC Hajjat Hadijah Namyalo for empowering them with such a remarkable duty and promised to work tirelessly to achieve the assignment.
