Eastern Buganda Endorse Museveni for Another Term, Citing Emyooga Success

Mukono, Uganda – Hundreds of beneficiaries of the Presidential Initiative on Wealth and Job Creation (Emyooga) in Greater Mukono have publicly endorsed President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni for another term in office, praising the program as a lifeline that has shielded them from predatory moneylenders and boosted household incomes.

Speaking at a function in Kasawo, Mr. Stephen Okhutu, chairperson of the Greater Mukono Emyooga Forum, described the initiative as a modern resurrection of traditional “Bibiina” savings groups that were once central to rural Ugandan life, particularly for women.

“What the President did was to give these associations legal status and remove the barriers that were killing them,” Okhutu said. “Before Emyooga, banks and moneylenders were confiscating people’s property because of abnormal interest rates. Today our people own their future.”

More than Shs6 billion has been disbursed across the four districts of Greater Mukono under the program, which organizes citizens into 18 livelihood clusters including boda-boda riders, saloon operators, welders, market vendors, restaurant owners, and taxi operators and .

In Nakifuma constituency, taxi operators used their Emyooga seed capital to purchase two 14-seater commuter vans. Mr. Charles Wanume, secretary of the Nakifuma Taxi Operators SACCO, told this reporter that the vehicles have sharply reduced poverty among members.

“We no longer run to fraudulent moneylenders who charge 30–200 percent interest per month,” Wanume said. “With Emyooga we borrow from our own SACCO at reasonable rates and repay while our businesses grow.”

Beneficiaries were unequivocal in linking their economic gains to political loyalty. Several openly warned that certain unnamed presidential aspirants have threatened to scrap Emyooga if elected – an assertion that echoes campaign rhetoric from opposition figures who criticize the program as a vote-buying scheme dressed as development.

Taxi operators in Nakifuma showing off one of the taxis they bought using Emyooga money

Ms. Jenipher Nyakato, the State House-appointed regional Emyooga coordinator for Greater Mukono, told the gathering that national stability under President Museveni, combined with targeted programs like Emyooga, Parish Development Model, and Operation Wealth Creation, justified continued leadership by the same ruler who has governed Uganda for nearly four decades.

Political observers note that such grassroots endorsements, amplified a weak opposition politics in Uganda characterized by divisions and bickering, have become a strong ground for president Yoweri Museveni to extend his advantage on Uganda’s electoral landscape.

As the 2026 general election approaches, Greater Mukono constituencies in Buganda, historically a swing region, are shaping up to be a key battleground between incumbency advantages and opposition calls for generational change.

For now, in the bustling trading centers of Mukono, Kayunga, Buikwe, and Buvuma, many small entrepreneurs say they have only one name on their lips when asked who should lead Uganda next: Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.