National Resistance Movement party presidential candidate, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, is today in Bundibugyo district, Rwenzori sub-region for his scientific campaigns. Museveni will meet and address a select team of NRM leaders including party flag bearers of Rwenzori sub-region. He will ask for re-election through recounting NRM achievements registered in the area, mainly the defeat of tribal conflicts and rebel groups.
Located in Western Uganda on the northern face of the Rwenzori Mountains, Bundibugyo district has in the recent past faced challenges like insurgency by ADF causing poor services in the district. However, Bundibugyo district Local Government has not made the same degree of progress in meeting the objectives of its population compared to other local governments in the region.
The Bundibugyo Integrated Development Programme (BIDP) was established in December 2003. The programme aims at supporting Uganda’s decentralization process in the district by contributing to the strengthening of the local authorities’ capacity to improve service delivery to the population as well as improving the standards of living of the people in the district especially those who are most vulnerable to poverty.
Following the incursions and ethnic conflicts that ravaged the area in the 1990s but later defeated by the NRM government in 2000, the district was left with scars and many people were displaced. These have led to repeated calls for creation of districts to settle the tribal scores which the NRM government has heeded to. The government also started the rehabilitation programmes for the sub-region in early 2000.
Economic interventions
Being a Cocoa growing district, Uganda Development Corporation (UDC) in partnership with private sector is working on establishing a Cocoa factory in Bundibugyo district. The factory will provide a ready market to the Cocoa farmers in Bundibugyo, solving the post-harvest losses during the bumper harvest, promote value addition and create more employment opportunities.
Under the Youth Livelihood Program, Bundibugyo district has a total of 171 youth projects funded by government. These projects are benefiting a total number of 2,154 of which 1,079 is males and 1,075 females.
Under the Women Fund programme a total of 673 Projects worth Ushs 4.3 billion have been financed in Tooro Sub region since 2016 when the fund was rolled out. Bundibugyo district has 91 women projects funded by government, benefiting 1,267 women.
Education
Bundibugyo has 111 government Primary schools with an enrollment of 56,185 pupils in government UPE programme. Many students enroll for post primary Universal Secondary Education. Currently, 160,000 students are under USE in Bundibugyo district. There are also many private primary and secondary schools offering affordable education to students in the district. The NRM government policy in the next five years will be focusing on construction of Primary and secondary schools in parishes and sub-counties without government schools.
In health, the district has 30 government health facilities with 14 health centre IIs, 12 health centre IIIs, 3 health centre IVs and 1 hospital. All these government health facilities are fully functional.
There is construction of health centre IIIs which currently at completion stage in five sub counties of Burundo, Harugale, Ntotoro, Bubandi and Kirumya.
The government’s other planned interventions are; to construct Buhundu Small scale Irrigation scheme in Bukonjo Sub-county and the construction of Bumate II Small scale Irrigation scheme in Busaaru Sub-county.
The district has a total number of 27 sub counties with 16 of them having access to electricity and 11 have no access to power. The rest of the sub-counties will be connected to the national grid in the next five year term of NRM government. This will be possible due to the presence of Sindila Hydroelectric Power Station in the district.