State Minister for Investment and Privatization Evelyn Anite has said that the people of West Nile will be voting in appreciation of President Yoweri Museveni in the 2026 general election.
“I can assure you, in this election like never before—from the turnups and from the way we speak to the people and the response of the people—we are destined to get 93%. And this has been surveyed; I'm not just throwing figures,” Anite said.
She made the remarks at her hotel, L'Hotel Le Confidentiel, in Arua City, ahead of President Museveni’s campaign rally in Yumbe District on Thursday.
Yumbe and Terego, which are part of the West Nile sub-region, are among the areas where the NRM presidential candidate is currently campaigning.
Anite pointed to the 132kV power line connecting West Nile to the national electricity grid via the Kole–Gulu–Nebbi–Arua transmission line. The power project, which was commissioned last year, ended decades of energy deficiency in the region.
“Because of lack of electricity, our people have been saying: why is it that all the other parts of Uganda have reliable electricity, and West Nile does not? But as I speak, West Nile has been connected to the national grid. The team that is now going to connect this electricity to the rural areas is already working through the Ministry of Energy. So that excitement alone has made the people believe that President Museveni is a good leader,” Anite said.
She also cited the peace that the region now enjoys—away from the past wars that saw many people flee into exile in neighbouring DRC and South Sudan.
“The people of West Nile have had the President come out of West Nile in the names of Idi Amin. They still had that thinking in their minds—that President Museveni would not forgive them for the wrongs that they say Idi Amin committed. So they were living in fear in the beginning, and that's why they were not giving the votes,” she noted.
“Even those who fought President Museveni’s government through those small rebel groups like the Bamuze Group, West Nile Bank Front, and others were not yet comfortable. Yet they have a big following in West Nile. So, the minute President Museveni started compensating them and gave out money to the tune of Shs17 billion, the people made up their minds.”
Anite added that these ex-servicemen are now actively canvassing support for President Museveni.
“Those ex-servicemen are talking to the people, telling them: get out, go and support President Museveni. He's a good leader; he's not vindictive. We fought against him, we fought his government, but he has kept us here. Not only has he not taken us to prison, but he is even compensating us for fighting him. So, because of that, they are mobilizing their people and we are having an organic mobilization.”
She said the introduction of various government wealth creation programmes—such as Emyooga and the Parish Development Model (PDM)—has been interpreted as a sign of love from the current government towards the people of West Nile.
Because of benefitting from these poverty alleviation initiatives, Anite believes many people in the region are ready to vote for President Museveni in the 2026 polls.
“The fact that women have benefited—together with their husbands—and are moving as one entity through the Parish Development Model which has been given to them, has made a difference. They say they have never touched money from any government in their life. Even when their own son was president, they did not get money from that government. But President Museveni has given them money to secure their families, to feed them, and to start their own businesses,” she said.
“So the people are seeing real change because government has touched their lives through PDM. Because of this, they are coming to President Museveni’s rallies in big numbers. I want to give this assurance: it will translate into 93% of the votes on election day.”
