National Resistance Movement (NRM) presidential candidate Yoweri Museveni has promised further dialogue with the people of Nakasongola on the proposed nuclear energy project in the area.
While addressing a campaign rally at Wabinyonyi playground in Nakasongola Town Council, Nakasongola District on Tuesday, the incumbent President said more research will be conducted about the project and its alleged side effects.
‘It’s not true that nuclear energy will make the men impotent as alleged. We shall investigate and possibly use the Internet to find out the truth. Many developed countries have nuclear stations. But as the NRM government, we believe in dialogue. At one time we had several more complicated issues than the nuclear project that we managed to resolve with dialogue,’ he said.
Mr Museveni also promised to deal with the land problem in Nakasongola, which he partly blamed on the colonialists and Buganda Kingdom.
‘The NRM government believes in equality, which is the very reason why when we captured power, we supported and helped restore cultural rights including kingdoms for communities that wanted their culture restored. For Buruuli, you have the right to enjoy culture and language without any external suppression. NRM stands for equality,’ he said.
The Baruuli are the largest ethnic group in Nakasogola. The President, who was accompanied by the First Lady Janet Museveni, promised to build new health units at Migeera and Mayirikiti as requested by the local disleaders.
While the general political perception is that Nakasongola is a traditional stronghold of NRM where the party has previously enjoyed overwhelming support, the 2016 and 2021 elections paint a different picture.
The two voting cycles show the Opposition political parties gaining ground in the region, especially in urban centres and the fishing communities on the Lake Kyoga. Nakasongola has more than 15 fish landing sites on the shores of Lake Kyoga.
During the 2016 General Election, the then leading Opposition presidential candidate Kizza Besigye garnered a total of 7,470 votes (13.79 percent ) while the NRM party presidential candidate Yoweri Museveni got 45,757 votes (84.46 percent ).
During the 2021 General Election, the Opposition gained more ground in the district, with National Unity Platform (NUP) presidential candidate, Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, garnering a total of 18,213 votes (33.14 percent) while Mr Museveni collected a total of 35,823 votes (65.18 percent).
Mr James Kyamuzungu Kayemba, a retired civil servant and elder in Migeera Town Council in Nakasongola District, explained that when Besigye first visited Nakasongola in 2010 while canvassing for support, the NRM party downplayed his influence on the electorates.
‘The fact is that Besigye in 2010 exposed the weaknesses in the service delivery system in many areas that he visited including the fishing communities. He told the communities that the only way to show their disapproval was through the ballot. Between 2015 and 2021, the youth and the other dissenting voices who are landless after getting evicted from land are communicating through the ballot box,’ he told Daily Monitor on December 26, 2025.
However, Mr Christopher Nkoyoyo, the Nakasongola District NRM party chairperson, said the recent ground mobilisation strategy by top NRM officials including the visit by the Prime Minister, Ms Robinah Nabbanja to ease fears of a government plan to relocate hundreds of families in Kalungi Sub-county over the nuclear plant programme plays in the favour of the NRM party.
‘Selfish politicians had taken advantage of the government nuclear programme to spread wild allegations about a possible relocation of hundreds of families from their existing land in Kalungi Sub-county. But the prime minister has since reassured the residents that the nuclear programme has not taken root. We believe that the fears that had tried to injure the NRM party campaign using the nuclear plant project have been cleared,’ he said.
Background
The 2024 National Population and Housing Census put the population of Nakasongola at 226,074 people. The district is divided into eight sub-counties and five town councils.
The updated voter register by EC puts the number of registered voters in Nakasongola District at 107,877, while the total number of registered voters for the 2021 General Election was 89,647.