As the 2026 presidential campaigns gain momentum across Uganda, Ntungamo District remains conspicuously unattended by any presidential candidates, who have repeatedly failed to show up despite being scheduled in the official campaign program.
According to the campaign calendar, Robert Kasibante was expected to hold rallies in Ntungamo today, but did not appear.
Similarly, Elton Joseph Mabirizi was scheduled to visit the district on October 11, but his campaign team also failed to show up.
Meanwhile, Mugisha Muntu, the presidential flagbearer of the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT) and a native of Ntungamo, postponed his visit to December.
Political observers attribute the repeated absences to President Museveni’s stronghold in the district, where he secured 86% of the vote in the 2021 elections.
Analysts note that this dominance has made Ntungamo less attractive to opposition contenders.
Political analyst Edward Natamba warned that the continued absence of candidates could give voters a misleading impression of the competitiveness of the race.
“It might create some image to voters that there is no high competition. Those who postponed their campaigns, their parties have no structures in Ntungamo. They will come when voters have already decided, and it will affect the elections—there will be no competition,” Natamba said.
He urged the Electoral Commission (EC) to ensure that all candidates have equal access to campaign platforms across the country.
“The EC should create an environment where all candidates can talk to all people, accessing all media platforms despite strongholds in a particular area. EC and civil society should equally mobilize for all candidates and ensure that their campaigns are not interrupted. There should be a leveled ground where all candidates are equal, and the EC should create guidelines on this,” he added.
Another analyst, Perez Rumanzi, pointed to both political dynamics and financial constraints as reasons for the lack of campaign activity in Ntungamo.
“The political dynamics of Ntungamo may not give appetite to a candidate to come and campaign here," Rumanzi, a former parliamentary candidate, said.
"Ntungamo has been a place for NRM and partly FDC, and we saw Museveni getting over 86% of the vote. This scares away some other candidates who want to come to Ntungamo."
He added that the high cost of campaigning also discourages candidates from investing in areas where they expect limited returns.
“They think about the fuel they are going to spend in Ntungamo and how many votes they are going to get from there. Maybe Muntu, who is born here, and Kyagulanyi have some support here. But candidates like Elton Mabirizi and Robert Kasibante are not well known—they might be waiting for the process to get hotter and more visible,” Rumanzi said.
Campaign financing remains a major hurdle for many contenders, he added, noting that residents have not seen posters or other visible signs of campaigning in the district.