Zombo women demand economic support from FDC’s Nandala

ZOMBO - At Zeu trading centre in Zombo district, 34-year-old Lilian Akugonza operates a small restaurant, a business she started with the shillings 150,000 seed capital she received under the government’s Emyooga programme.

Although she returned the money as required, she has been unable to access any further government support, despite her efforts to grow her enterprise.

“In 2021, our SACCO received funds, and each member took shillings 150,000. I used mine to start this restaurant, and it is still running. But it is small and I wanted to add in more money. I returned the only money they gave me, but now they say I cannot benefit from the Parish Development Model because I already got something. It is not fair,” Atugonza told New Vision Online.

Feeling excluded from government programmes meant to uplift women, Atugonza has now placed her hopes in the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) presidential candidate, James Nathan Nandala Mafabi, whom she believes might offer a more inclusive approach if elected in January 2026. (All Photos by Alfred Ochwo)

Feeling excluded from government programmes meant to uplift women, Atugonza has now placed her hopes in the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) presidential candidate, James Nathan Nandala Mafabi, whom she believes might offer a more inclusive approach if elected in January 2026.

For more than two decades, the NRM government has invested heavily in women’s empowerment and poverty eradication initiatives across the country. Yet thousands of women across rural Uganda say they have either received nothing or benefited only partially.

Government programmes such as the Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Program (UWEP) and the Parish Development Model (PDM) were designed to address these gaps.

UWEP, launched in the 2015/16 financial year, aimed to expand women’s access to credit and entrepreneurship training. By 2020/21, it had supported 4,041 women's enterprise groups. By September 2022, women had repaid shillings 20.2 billion, of which 10.7 billion was reinvested into new groups.

Similarly, the PDM launched in 2022 allocates funds to parish-level SACCOs, with at least 30% ring-fenced for women.

Government pledged to increase parish allocations from shillings 100 million to 200 million after the 2026 General Election.

Another initiative, the five-year GROW project, funded by a US$217 million World Bank grant, was launched in 2023 to help women-led micro-enterprises transition to small and medium-sized businesses.

Despite these impressive figures, women like Atugonza still feel locked out.

As the FDC wrapped up its campaigns in the West Nile region, Nandala held rallies in Zombo and Pakwach, where he pledged to revive Uganda’s economy by directly supporting women and youth. His manifesto proposes a village development fund through which each village would receive shillings 100 million.

“Government has invested a lot of money in many poverty eradication programmes, but these have benefited only a few people. The shillings 100 million fund will benefit women, young people, and small businesses. We shall also create jobs for graduates, support job creators with capital, and lower taxes so that Ugandan businesses can grow, instead of giving tax holidays to investors who refuse to pay taxes.” Nandala told supporters in Zombo.

For residents of Zombo, the pledges come at a time when public services remain severely underdeveloped. The district has no tarmac roads, and communities report poor health and education infrastructure.

Lucy Piwati, a resident of Baronje village in Alangi Sub-county, says the district’s education system has failed many children.

“We have two primary schools serving the entire sub-county, but no secondary school. Most children stop in Primary Seven, Zeu Health Centre III rarely has drugs. We hope that when we elect the FDC government, our roads, health facilities, and schools will have a new life,” she said.

Nandala was accompanied by FDC deputy president Hassan Kaps Fungaroo and Arua City Mayor Khemis Zubaid, who is now contesting for Arua City MP. Fungaroo criticised the continued neglect of Zombo, saying the NRM has promised better roads for 20 years but delivered little.

However, the government maintains that change is on the way.

President Yoweri Museveni, the NRM presidential flag bearer in the 2026 elections, recently pledged to overhaul Zombo’s transport infrastructure. Addressing a rally at Zombo Upper Primary School playground on Saturday, 11 October 2025, the President, accompanied by First Lady Janet Kataaha Museveni, promised to rehabilitate and expand the district’s key roads.

“The contract for the construction of the road from Nebbi to Zombo will be signed in April 2026. It will then be followed by the road from Zombo to Vura,” Museveni announced to loud applause.

He said the Nebbi–Goli–Zombo–Vura road is part of a national road network development plan that government is implementing gradually.

Zombo has largely been an NRM stronghold. In the 2021 elections, the ruling party won the district with 45,578 votes. National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate Robert Kyagulanyi came second with 9,111 votes. FDC’s presidential candidate at the time, Patrick Oboi Amuriat, garnered only 1,260 votes, and the party failed to win any parliamentary seat.

This year, FDC does not have a parliamentary aspirant in the district.

For now, Atugonza's future and that of many rural women struggling to grow their businesses hangs between unfulfilled government promises and the hope that a new political wave might finally bring economic fairness to their doorstep.