📷 No quick fix for cattle compensation claimants, Muntu tells Dokolo rally

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I cannot promise the cattle compensation claimants a quick fix, Alliance for National Transformation (ANT) presidential candidate Maj. Gen. (rtd) Mugisha Muntu has told a crowd of voters at Acungapenyi central ward, Dokolo town council in Dokolo district.

“I cannot stand here and give you a guarantee when the system is tangled in bureaucracy and court orders. We do not want to use cattle compensation for politics,” Muntu says with his voice rising above the hum of the rally.

The ANT's presidential flagbearer made the remarks on November 14, 2025, after a section of voters asked him for some money, claiming they lost their animals during the Lord’s Resistance Army (NRA) war.

“As I told you earlier, I am a genuine person, I can't promise you money, but I need a sustainable solution that will fight poverty out of Dokolo district and Lango region as a whole,” he said.

“For us as ANT, we promise a holistic approach to offer solutions to fight poverty in Lango sub-region. What I can assure you is that, once in power, we will untangle the mess, verify every claim transparently, and make sure the money reaches the rightful owners.”

His remarks come amid a surge of frustration where over 24,000 claimants across the regions of Acholi, Lango and Teso remain unpaid despite shillings 159.5 billion having been released by the justice ministry for 28,281 verified claimants nationwide.

President Yoweri Museveni recently issued a one‑month ultimatum for an audit and verification of all pending claims, warning that the process had been “exposed to opportunists” and urging the publication of verified lists in every sub‑county , which is still under consideration.

Muntu’s stance reflects the broader political tightrope opposition figures face: balancing urgent voter demands with limited executive authority.

He reiterated his five‑point agenda of commercial agriculture, industrialisation, infrastructure, digital transformation, and inclusive governance, promising that a reformed co-operative bank and a dedicated state department for fisheries and aquaculture would create the fiscal space needed to settle historic debts like cattle compensation.

“I have capabilities of managing the state, but we need to first select corruption-free leaders because it does not matter whether you are my mother, my father or any other relative when it comes to matters of running the country. You steal, I put you in prison,” Muntu assured.

Shun leaders who buy your votes

Muntu warned Dokolo town council residents to steer clear of politicians who try to buy votes.

“They come here and sprinkle money. Then you go with that one, and yet you are aware he or she is a con man,” he said, urging locals to reject cash handouts that vanish in minutes while the real problems of poor roads, dilapidated school structures, poor health infrastructure and rampant corruption remain unsolved.

Muntu challenged the youths, especially not to be “compromised with sh1,000 which cannot even buy one chicken” and reminding them that the future belongs to those who choose integrity over short‑term gain.

Muntu positions his agenda of transparent governance and accountable leadership as the antidote to a cycle of bribery and broken promises.

Government efforts

It should be noted that the Government in March 2022 rolled out a cattle compensation programme with a budget of shillings 200 billion. It was designed to compensate victims in Acholi, Lango, and Teso whose livestock and property were lost during past insurgencies and cattle raids.

President Yoweri Museveni has consistently stressed that the initiative is not a standard government programme but an exceptional measure aimed at fostering peace, reconciliation, and economic recovery in the war-affected regions.

However, there has been widespread dissatisfaction with the current system, with residents and leaders arguing that it had been captured by middlemen and tainted by corruption.