Uncertainty as Nandala Pulls Large Crowds in Kyagulanyi’s Buganda Region: Promises to End Poverty and Upend Museveni Strongholds

By Isaac Wandubile

In a dramatic kickoff to his Central Region campaign, FDC presidential contender Nathan Nandala Mafabi swept through Luweero and Nakasongola with a message that sent tremors through Uganda’s political landscape.

The long-time opposition heavyweight surged into Busiika, Kikyusa, and Zirobwe packed with promises, fire, and an open challenge to President Yoweri Museveni’s decades-long grip on the region.

Residents, many frustrated by years of economic struggle, watched as Nandala tore into what he described as a government that has pushed ordinary Ugandans to the edge through crushing taxes and a collapsing cash-crop economy.

He painted a picture of a country deliberately drained of opportunity, then vowed to reverse what he called a man-made cycle of poverty.

Nandala positioned himself as the leader willing to restore dignity to households he said have been abandoned by the state.

He pledged a sweeping revival of cash crop production to refill wallets and granaries, presenting it as the lifeline rural communities have waited for.

His manifesto, now the centerpiece of his push into Museveni’s longtime stronghold, promises a remodeled education system with meals for learners, uniform pay for teachers, and free schooling for children of civil servants from primary all the way to university.

The candidate’s health agenda was equally ambitious—elevating health centres to full district hospitals and equipping them with modern diagnostics to end what he framed as preventable suffering.

For the elderly, he promised a monthly stipend intended to restore dignity to those who have survived Uganda’s toughest years.

But it was his economic pitch that drew the sharpest lines: slashing taxes from 30% to as low as 5–10% and unleashing a new wave of cash-crop-driven income generation.

In a district long known as an NRM bastion, the message hit home with residents who have felt the sting of rising costs and shrinking opportunities.

Analysts say the promises could send ripples through the race.

Vulnerable groups—especially the elderly, students, and struggling families, may find in Nandala a champion who speaks directly to their hardships.

His sharp contrast from the ruling NRM, combined with a focus on local bread-and-butter issues, could peel away voters who once stood firmly behind Museveni. And with renewed hope often comes higher turnout, a factor that could shift the political calculus in Luweero for the first time in decades.

With his Central Region tour just beginning, Nandala Mafabi has signaled he’s not merely campaigning—he’s attempting to rewrite the political narrative in the very territory the NRM has long considered untouchable. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).