Museveni accepts new idea to resettle landslide victims in Bugisu

MBALE - President Yoweri Museveni has accepted a new idea of resettling landslide victims and those facing danger in the Mt Elgon area within their home districts.

He stated that while campaigning for 2026 re-election in Bududa district on November 6, 2025, he was glad to hear that the landslide victims don’t want to be resettled outside their districts.

“When I was in Bududa, somebody said, ‘When you are resettling us, don’t resettle us out of the district. Resettle us in the district, but as towns.’ Oh, that is a very good idea. That means people can change the use of a mountain from agriculture…You do agriculture up to where it is safe to do it,” he said.

He made the remarks on November 8, 2025, while interacting with journalists from the Busigu sub-region during a live radio and TV talk show at State Lodge in Mbale city.

“We can sit down and agree technically; how far up the mountain can you go safely to do agriculture, and how do you do it? Because the way they do it, they don’t do it carefully. In the mountain, you should do contours (terraces to hold the water), but now they just cultivate, no contours,” Museveni noted.

He also said they are going to discuss the alternative use of Mt Elgon.

“How do we use the mountain? If we built towns like those down in the valley, we would get a lot of money from tourism. You stay in the valleys, the forests are there, people come and stay in the hotels… So, we are going to discuss the alternative use of the mountain,” the President said.

Earlier, he said that the mountain must be used very carefully. He noted that in the past, the population was small and much of the mountain was forest.

“The Bamasaba would go there to collect ‘malewa’ (bamboo shoots, a delicacy of Bugisu), but they were not converting the whole mountain into agriculture like now. We should realise that it (the mountain) can be used in other ways,” Museveni said.

Earlier relocation promise 

Museveni had, on November 7, 2025, vowed to work at full steam to relocate families facing landslide danger in the Mt Elgon area.

He said during his second and final campaign rally of the day at Nabbongo Secondary School playground in Nabbongo sub-county, Bulambuli district, that he was glad to hear that people now want to be resettled to safe areas.

He noted that in the past, people thought there was no danger and that the Government was just talking.

“Now people know the danger. We are going to work full steam to get our people out of danger before time. The plan is [to give each family] two acres and sh10m,” he said.

Museveni, who was talking tough, noted that it was dangerous for politicians in the area to tell families to resist relocation.

“I went myself to Namesti (in Bududa), where the whole village was buried by a mountain. It is terrible. It shouldn’t happen. It is as if a country has no people of knowledge. [It is] because of the politics of the people who are blind; who want power without knowledge,” he said.

He emphasised that there are certain parts of Mt. Elgon where people should not settle. “It is dangerous for them but also for our future,” he stated.

Sh50b available

At a second rally of the day in Bulambuli, Museveni called to the podium Minister of Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees Hilary Onek to update the mammoth crowd of NRM supporters on the Government’s resettlement plan.

“Our ministry has managed to rescue those from the disaster area and most of them are in Bunambutye Resettlement Camp waiting for relocation. We have so far got 2,661 acres of land here, where we have started settling the families that are in the camp,” he said.

The minister said they had already started giving each family two acres of land and shillings 10 million.

“We are also looking for more land within the Elgon area, and currently we have 50 billion ready for settlement. With that money, we are going to buy more land and resettle the displaced families,” he added.