Unemployment has emerged as the biggest concern for residents of western Uganda, according to a new study by Twaweza’s Sauti za Wananchi, a non-governmental organisation that tracks citizens’ views on governance and public services.
The survey, conducted between February and March 2025, found that 41 per cent of respondents in western Uganda cited unemployment as their most pressing issue.
This makes unemployment the region’s leading concern, ahead of other challenges such as hunger and poor health services. While this report shows unemployment is generally a nationwide problem, its prominence varies across regions.
For instance, Greater Kampala and the central region did not find it the most pressing issue, and rather reported the high cost of living as the most pressing issue, while both eastern and northern regions reported hunger as their biggest pressing issues.
In fact, unemployment ranked lowest among northern Uganda’s list of priorities, unlike in the West, where it stands out as the biggest threat. The findings come amid growing political debate over perceptions of privilege in western Uganda, the home region of President Museveni.
This alleged perception has since compelled several political figures to urge residents of western Uganda to vote out the incumbent regime, claiming that the regime has created a perception that people from western Uganda are doing well, while only a section of them truly benefit, and the majority remain in poverty, like many other Ugandans.
Such claims have been common from National Unity Platform (NUP) President Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, alias Bobi Wine, who has on several occasions called on residents from western Uganda to vote out Mr Museveni, arguing that he has presented a misleading picture of the people.
Similarly, while addressing the media at the National Economic Empowerment Dialogue (NEED) headquarters, 2021 presidential candidate Joseph Kizza Kabuleta, warned Ugandans not to think that the Ankole sub-region is exempt from suffering like other regions, attributing this to what he described as bad leadership and segregation by the incumbent government.
Kabuleta’s claim, like Kyagulanyi’s, was that, like any other region, a considerable number of people in Ankole are trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty, but a certain privileged few cover up the situation to make it appear as if all people from western Uganda are living a better life. According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) 2024 Census Report, the unemployment rate among the working-age population (15 years and above) stood at 12.3 per cent.
Of particular concern is youth unemployment, with 42.6 per cent of individuals aged 15-24 classified as Not in Employment, Education, or Training (NEET). Beyond unemployment, western Uganda also reported hunger and health services as its most immediate pressing issues, each standing at 38 per cent and 35 per cent respectively. Furthermore, the study revealed that western Uganda reported having land/property issues more than any other region.
The only region that comes close to western Uganda when it comes to registering land issues is the Northern region. In the past, a section of Mbarara Municipal Council leaders protested what they described as rampant cases of land grabbing and corruption in the area. These leaders argued that these land grabbers were impeding the development of the proposed city.