How Museveni directive electrified Naluwoli’s business boom

________________

In 1995, Naluwoli trading centre, now a growing business hub on Kamuli–Namasagali road in Kamuli district, was a struggling settlement with only five rental units. The area’s underdevelopment was largely attributed to the absence of a power transformer.

Although Uganda gained independence decades earlier, electricity poles and overhead wires passed through the centre in Butansi subcounty en route to Namasagali township. However, successive local leaders and members of parliament failed to lobby for the installation of a transformer.

It was not until 2006 that residents, led by village chairperson Wilson Idyobe, now 64, intercepted President Yoweri Museveni during his campaign trail and appealed for the transformer.

“Your Excellency, this town is underdeveloped due to the missing transformer. In case you provide it, you will have impacted on thousands of lives,” Idyobe said.

Before leaving the area, the President directed that the transformer be installed. The directive was implemented in less than two weeks, and since then the trading centre has expanded more than tenfold into a vibrant business hub serving 12 surrounding villages.

Today, the centre hosts investments including maize mills, welding workshops, automobile garages, hotels, wholesale and retail shops. It supports about 220 households with close to 600 residents, a transformation locals attribute to President Museveni’s intervention.

Speaking to New Vision on Sunday (February 8), Idyobe said, “It was no use asking for other things. Power was the main factor to develop this area.”

Questioning why opposition supporters claim that Museveni has done “nothing”, Idyobe said the transformer has transformed livelihoods, created jobs and opened up business opportunities.

Esereda Kawuuna, 70, a resident of neighbouring Kibumba-Inhebyo village, said the transformer extended electricity to three government schools, five private schools, three churches and produce businesses such as maize and rice mills, turning the area into a produce collection centre in Butansi subcounty.

Haji Faizo Bulo, the Butansi LC3 chairperson, said the rapid development of the centre has driven up land prices as investors rush to establish businesses.

“Per now, a 40x100 plot costs sh12m, compared to the past when it cost only sh2m,” Bulo said, adding that living standards have improved as rural residents increasingly enjoy urban-style services.

“Street and security lights are available to enable businesses to continue till late, thus more cash flow and poverty reductions,” Bulo, a businessman-turned-politician, said.

Rev. Mathias Kamyuka, priest of Naluwoli Deaconry, said the centre’s growth could soon see it elevated from a trading centre to a town board and eventually a town council, noting that it is the busiest area in Butansi subcounty.

Christine Kaguna Owagage, the female district councillor for Butansi subcounty, said the centre’s growth has particularly benefited women, who are now able to engage in both home-based and public businesses.

The development aligns with President Museveni’s recent call during the just concluded presidential campaigns, urging citizens to utilise available government services to reduce poverty.

Lukooki Magezi, an NRM cadre from Namisambya village and the deputy resident district commissioner for Kotido, praised the presidential intervention, noting that beyond Naluwoli, electricity has since reached the sub-counties of Kitayunjwa, Bulopa, Kagumba and Namasagali.