President Museveni
HABARI DAILY I Kampala, Uganda I President Yoweri Museveni has issued a post-election statement addressing Ugandans following the conclusion of the Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government polls, congratulating citizens while reaffirming the ruling National Resistance Movement’s (NRM) political strength.
In a message addressed to “Fellow Ugandans and especially the Bazzukulu,” Museveni said he traversed the country extensively during the campaign period.
“I addressed 143 massive rallies in 153 districts. The atmosphere at these gatherings was celebratory and consultative, with whole community turn-ups,” he said.
The President likened the mood of the recent campaigns to the 1996 elections, which he described as a period when the population strongly backed the NRM due to stability and progress at the time.
According to Museveni, early NRM achievements — including restoring security, reviving the economy, improving infrastructure and expanding immunization — built nationwide confidence in his leadership.
He said: “People had seen that we had the capacity to guarantee their future.”
However, the President acknowledged that challenges such as poverty, corruption, unemployment and education costs later emerged, prompting government interventions like Entandikwa, Universal Primary Education (UPE), NAADS, Operation Wealth Creation (OWC), Emyooga and most recently the Parish Development Model (PDM).
On wealth creation, Museveni highlighted growth in agricultural production, citing increases in coffee, milk, maize and livestock output since 1986.
“Production in the country is now very high… but prosperity had only covered 61% of homesteads by 2019,” he noted, adding that PDM was designed to target the remaining subsistence households.
Turning to the elections, Museveni accused the opposition — particularly the National Unity Platform (NUP) — of electoral malpractice.
“In the 2021 elections, NUP infiltrated 2.7 million votes in the ballot boxes of Buganda and Busoga,” he claimed.
He argued that the introduction of Biometric Voter Verification (BVV) machines had weakened vote rigging, describing the technology as “the death-knell to the opposition’s life-line of cheating.”
Museveni further asserted that the NRM enjoys overwhelming national support.
“Our registered members were 21 million… If all the NRM turned up to vote, our vote would be 18.5 million — meaning 88% support,” he said.
Despite the strong remarks, the President called for reconciliation and tolerance after the polls.
“I call upon Ugandans to abandon any bad behaviour and act fairly to all, even opposition. You should work for principled reconciliation,” he urged.
Museveni concluded by reflecting on his historical role in Uganda’s liberation struggle, recalling the February 1979 FRONASA advance into Uganda during the war that ousted Idi Amin.
“Salutations to all and God bless all of you,” he signed off.
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