As a way of finding a lasting solution to learners who drop out of schools in the North Eastern Karamoja Sub-region, President Museveni, who is seeking re-election to serve another term, has promised to ensure that the free education policy in all government-aided schools is enforced to the letter.
Addressing a crowd in Nakapiripirit District, Mr Museveni attributed the high school dropout rates in the mineral-rich restive Sub-region to fees charged by heads of government-aided schools.
He said the Universal Primary Education (UPE) rolled out in 1996 aimed at making education entirely free to all learners who cannot afford to pay fees in private schools, but along the way, some people started charging fees.
‘Because of that, children get out of school,’ Mr Museveni said, as he canvassed for votes on Wednesday ahead of the January 2026 General Election.
It’s partly upon this background that he reportedly started to establish skilling hubs like the one in Napak District, where school dropouts have been embraced and given life-changing skills.
Mr Museveni said that because of such initiatives, abandoned children are able to make unique products through the skilling hubs, which were previously imported from China and Dubai.
‘So in the next government, I ask you to support free education in all government schools, so that we don’t lose those children,’ Mr Museveni, 80, asked the people of Nakapiripirit District, where he campaigned before heading to Nabilatuk for his second rally.
Nakapiripirit District has only 27 primary schools and seven secondary schools.
‘The plan is to have one primary school per parish, and one secondary school per Sub County,’ Mr Museveni, who doubles as the ruling NRM chairperson, said.
The president said that there are seed secondary schools that have been constructed, like Nakapiripirit Seed Secondary School and Moruita Seed Secondary School, whose works are still ongoing.
He added that under the economic infrastructure, they have been able to handle the issue of hydroelectric power, the roads, telephone, railway line, touting the tarmac in Nakapiripirit as an excellent example.
Commenting in the issue of water coverage in Karamoja,he said the government scored tremendously well with 179 villages out of 209 villages in Nakapiripirit having safe borehole water , which he says accounts for 82% in safe water coverage provision for the people of Nakapiripirit district, ‘This is very good.’
He said that the other districts equally have a better safe water coverage, apart from Amudat district that has low water coverage, at 18 percent.
He said there are also dams that have been worked on by the government.
The president who was accompanied by his wife, the minister of education and sports, Janet Museveni, said that the NRM government intends to establish Namalu large irrigation scheme with a capacity of 11.8B litres of water, reasoning that the facility will help serve over 750 hectares using irrigation.
Under social economic development, he said the government is also planning to have all health centre II’s in Nakapiripirit upgraded to health centre III’s. Sub
Counties without health centres will also receive health facilities in the next term of government.
On the aspect of poverty alleviation, Mr Museveni said that getting out of poverty takes individual initiative, adding that the national development projects like roads and others do little.
He told the NRM supporters that from the time the NRM came into power in 1986, they have shared with the people the gospel on poverty alleviation, those who have listened to their messages and are flourishing, citing an example of a farmer in the cattle corridor in western Uganda, among others, as people who are earing millions every year as model farmers.
Mr Museveni also asked the people not to listen too much to some politicians who think it is only the government that will provide wealth through the creation of jobs, stating that the entire civil service in the country is barely 460,000.
‘Get out of the thinking that jobs can only be provided by the government,’ the president, who is seeking to be re-elected, said.
Mr Museveni expressed his joy that the factories that they recently brought have at least managed to employ at least 1.3M people, three times what the government can afford to employ.
Touching on the aspect of peace, Mr Museveni said that Karamoja is what it is today because of his stance on disarmament despite pressures from some people who perceived the idea as suicidal because of the armed neighbours of Kenya, South Sudan and Ethiopia.
He said that they reasoned that if the people of Karamoja were disarmed, they would be exposed to the armed Turkana and Pokot of Kenya, the armed communities of South Sudan and some of Ethiopia.
‘I said bring the guns, I will protect you against the Kenyans and you have seen how I have done it,’ he said.