Accompanied by the First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Maama Janet Kataaha Museveni, the President made the remarks during a campaign rally at Arua City Golf Course, Arua City.
The campaign is running under the theme: “Protecting the Gains, Making a Qualitative Leap into High Middle-Income Status”.
President Museveni emphasized the tangible progress in education, health, infrastructure, and economic empowerment in Arua District and Arua City.
“In Arua District and Arua City there are a total of 120 government primary schools, the primary schools in Arua District are 50 and in Arua City are 70. In Arua District, there are 7 government secondary schools, and 9 in Arua City. For somebody who has been here for a long time, when I see this, I am very happy,” President Museveni said.
“In 1961, I was at Ntare School and there were so many boys from West Nile, they were coming to Ntare because there was no single A’ level school in the home of Northern and Eastern Uganda. There were only six A’ level schools in Uganda. So, when I see that in Arua City alone, there are 9, I am very happy.”
On the challenges facing education, the President said:
“On the issue of education, the children in the Presidential Zonal Skilling Hubs are giving testimonies on how their lives had been ruined. They had left school because of the school charges. So when I started the skilling hubs, they came to study for free. They are now producing good products and skills like shoemaking, metal work, carpentry, building, all just in six months and I teach them for free.”
He made an appeal: “So I want to appeal to the NRM fraternity, in the next government, let’s get rid of school charges in government schools. They have been talking about the shortage of government teachers. We shall increase the teachers by 50,000 so that there is no shortage of teachers, and there is no reason for charging money. That’s why we should emphasize day schools, one primary school per parish, one secondary school per sub-county, so that children study and go home.”
On health, the President announced that the NRM’s plan in the next government is to upgrade Orivu Health Centre III to a Health Centre IV in Ayivu Division East, and to upgrade Lazebu Health Centre II to a Health Centre III in Arivu Sub-County.
President Museveni further stressed the importance of income generation and local production.
“If you don’t have income in your homes, you are causing problems for your family but also for your country because the government gets taxes from what you buy. When you have no money, you are not contributing to your family and to your nation,” he said.
“Government jobs are only 480,000. Factories alone have created 1.2 million jobs. I really feel sorry for Africa when people call themselves leaders just talking. When you produce a good, who buys what you produce? The internal market is not enough. That’s why the NRM says: let’s have Uganda unite maximally. When I produce milk in Mbarara, I am happy when the people of Arua buy it, so we need a broader market of Uganda, East Africa, and Africa.”
The President concluded the rally by handing party flags to NRM flag bearers for Members of Parliament.
President Museveni also welcomed 300 new party members who were introduced by Mr. Lawrence Dangote, the NRM flag bearer for the mayorship of Arua City.
On her part, the First Lady urged the people of Arua to remain patriotic and support the National Resistance Movement in the upcoming elections.
“Thank you for being patriots, for being strong nationalists, for being people who love their homeland, for never forgetting where we have come from, because NRM is a party of the people, for the people of Uganda. Thank you for realizing that and really sticking with NRM,” she said.
Maama Janet emphasized the need for deliberate action to ensure Uganda continues to grow.
“It is important to be deliberate in everything we are doing so that Uganda can grow from strength to strength as a country. The world has got used to thinking that African countries are weak and confused, that’s why many countries go abroad. But by God’s grace, we shall ensure that Uganda grows from strength to strength.”
She reminded citizens of their responsibility on voting day.
“Therefore, ensure that no one in your village stays in your house on voting day, and make it your responsibility to ensure that all votes go to NRM. Please know that your vote is for your family, for your children, and for Uganda’s peace. Therefore, vote for President Museveni and for the NRM. Line up with your leaders in your areas.”
Maama Janet concluded by thanking Arua residents for their loyalty.
“I thank you so much that you have refused to forget. Remember, you have a responsibility to ensure that NRM gets all votes of Arua and vote for Museveni to end the whole line of NRM. I thank you, Arua. God bless you.”
Ms. Joyce Amaguru, Arua City NRM Party Chairperson, highlighted the President’s role in transforming the city.
“We are grateful, President, for giving us this city, Your Excellency. We are going to talk about the huge many achievements. Thank you for the peace; if you see many people here today, we are grateful to you for giving this peace. We are also grateful because you ushered health for all. A lot of our health facilities have been upgraded, at the same time we have free education for all and tarmacking has been done. Recently you connected our region to the national grid. We have Adumi health centers, and we are in the process of getting a heart and lung institute at Muni University.”
On education, Amaguru noted significant progress in schools across Arua.
“On the Education Sector in Arua District: There are 50 Government primary schools with 64,668 pupils; 7 Government secondary schools with 3,780 students. In Arua City: 70 Government primary schools with 110,136 pupils; 9 Government secondary schools with 4,616 students. All schools offer Universal Secondary Education (USE) and UPOLET programs. All this has happened because of your private sector development, which is one of your developments.”
She also highlighted improvements in water and markets.
“In the water sector, we have 15% access to proper water in our households. In the market sector, you helped us and funded, through both government and private sector, the completion of the Ojipala Market (Vurra). A special fund for the PDWs Sh65m and the elderly received Sh20m.”
Amaguru appealed for additional support to improve service delivery and pledged loyalty to the NRM.
“We can’t thank you enough, Your Excellency. We promise that as Arua City we shall give you, our votes; you can expect 90%.”
The NRM Arua District Chairman, Mr. Arion Bonifance expressed his gratitude to President Museveni while highlighting key infrastructure and community needs.
Reflecting on his personal experience, Bonifance added: “I was born in Congo, not because I didn’t want to be born in Uganda, but because of the security situation at that time. So, we thank you so much, Your Excellency, for the love that you have given us.”
The event was also graced by NRM Central Executive Committee (CEC) members, Members of Parliament, religious and cultural leaders, as well as thousands of supporters.
