President Museveni on Thursday wrapped up his campaign trail in Karamoja sub-region with a mega rally at the Matany Grounds, Matany town council in Napak district.
The rally was of great significance as it was held in the district which hosts the Morulinga State Lodge.
Museveni, accompanied by the First Lady, Janet Museveni arrived a few minutes after mid-day and was welcomed by a heavy downpour, a few minutes before he could ascend to the podium to address the gathering.
Speaking amidst the heavy downpour, Museveni said he was unphased with rain.
“I am a cattle keeper I don’t fear the rain. In Ntungamo where I come from, we had both cows and crops. And when it rains and you abandon cows to get shelter, cows go into people’s gardens and it is a very serious offence. I have been looking after cows since the age of four,” he said.
At one point, one of his aides brought a jacket but Museveni rejected it, earning applause from the crowd that was watching keenly.
Addressing the gathering, Museveni said when he proposed disarmament in Karamoja, many voices were against it but he insisted and at the end, peace has returned to the area.
“There were a lot of arguments on how to handle Karamoja . You have now seen the results. I want to thank everybody involved in supporting that disarmament. I remember we had a function at Kangole where many guns were handed over. Recently, we had Karachunas who came out and young people like Atuk and Angolele.”
Museveni emphasized that the NRM doesn’t believe in sectarianism, adding that it is because of this that it has been able to build a strong army but also unite the country.
He said that after ushering in peace, NRM has ensured development of Karamoja through infrastructure like electricity, roads, clean water, health facilities, education facilities among others.
“Tarmac is here, electricity is here, telephones is here, water is also here. There are also dams here. This is all part of physical infrastructure. The schools and health centres are also here. The plan is for each parish to have a government primary school and for each sub county to have a government secondary school and technical schools at least one per district,” he noted.
Museveni admitted that it is high time Napak got a district hospital while the health centres at different levels also need to be upgraded and sub counties without health centre IIIs should get one.
He noted that these plans are in the pipeline in the forthcoming term of office.
“What has been achieved is noted and what is not yet done will be done. That’s why we are asking for your support.”
Museveni also hailed the First Lady for helping transform Karamoja, during her tenure as Minister for Karamoja.
“Mama volunteered to come and she made a big contribution, especially in the area of water including the dams and food security. When she was here Karamoja was able to send food to Mbale. When she was here some of dams finished are Arechek dam with a capacity of 1.2 billion litres and Natumama valley tank,” he said.
He said government will build on her efforts by rolling out an individualized water supply program to ensure that every household can access water for both domestic use and agricultural production.
The First Lady Janet Museveni urged the people of Karamoja to vote President Museveni and NRM flag bearers to protect the gains achieved.
“All Ugandans have responsibility to protect this peace and unity to ensure continued development of Uganda. You have a responsibility to vote this president and all NRM flag bearers so that God can build on what we have done to truly transform Uganda for the good of all of us,” she said.
