Rukungiri District has witnessed a major shift in political power as candidates from the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) swept most positions in the local government elections.
According to declaration forms released by electoral officials, NRM won 30 out of 36 seats, including the district LC5 seat, woman representatives, division, and sub-county directly elected councilors.
The district chairperson seat was taken by NRM’s Charles Andrewson Kateebire, who polled 40,946 votes (52.44 per cent).
“Thank you, Rukungiri people, for voting for me again. I promise you that I will serve you as I did when I was your district chairperson last time,” he told the Monitor after his declaration.
Kateebire, who lost the seat to NRM’s Geoffery Kyomukama in the 2021 general elections, expressed happiness at regaining the seat.
“I am happy that I have regained my seat after 5 years. I do a lot in terms of fighting corruption because you know it very well that I was very serious when it came to fighting corruption in the district,” he said, calling for cooperation and unity among Rukungiri residents.
NRM’s Byaruhanga George Ruraka, who won the elderly seat for males, pledged to advocate for the elderly’s rights.
“I will do everything the elderly ask me to do for them. I have been a Councilor, and now I have gone to the elderly league,” he said, emphasising empowerment programs.
The youth representative seats were also swept by NRM candidates. Ainebyoona Marion won the female youth councillor seat with 308 votes, while Tuwesigye Harmony won the male youth councillor seat with 332 votes.
“I want to use myself and advocate for the rights of youth because we are the majority in our country Uganda,” Ainebyoona said, promising development initiatives.
The NRM party’s dominance marks a significant shift in Rukungiri, formerly an opposition stronghold. The party also won all four parliamentary seats in January 2026.
PFF party won 5 seats, and an independent candidate secured 1 seat.
Voter turnout was low compared to the January 15 presidential and parliamentary polls, with voting conducted via secret ballot and manual registers due to Biometric Voter Verification machine failures.