FDC’s Nandala pledges starch factory, vows to revive cotton in Serere

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Nathan Nandala Mafabi of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) has pledged to establish a starch-making factory in Serere district if elected president of Uganda in 2026.

He said this initiative would promote value addition to locally produced cassava and ensure that every family earns a living from it.

“Cassava is not only looked at as a daily food but has starch which can be used to make medicine that is highly demanded due to the attachment of life it offers to human beings. A kilogram of starch is selling at $360 (over sh1.2m),” he said.

“This is going to be possible because I want to allocate 10% of our budget to agriculture, which the government neglected to keep you in poverty,” he promised.

“With such a factory, I shall be employing hundreds of thousands of both youth, women and men who work daily in gardens to support their families,” he added.

Nandala made the pledge during a campaign rally on October 22, 2025, at Abuket parish, Kiyere subcounty, in Serere district.

Nathan Nandala Mafabi of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC). (Credit: Alfred Ochwo)

He said FDC’s agricultural plan for the country includes providing free seeds, fertilisers, farm equipment, including pesticides and hoes, to support people living in rural areas.

“The demand for paying household items such as soap, sugar, a basin, and kerosene is very high because the government imposes heavy taxation even on our locally produced goods to squeeze citizens to remain poor,” Nandala insisted.

Reviving cotton growing

Nandala also vowed to revive cotton growing in Serere district, saying it was once a major cash crop in the area. He noted that the decline of cotton production led to poverty and unemployment among farmers and pledged to work with stakeholders to revitalise the sector.

“I want to see Serere district becoming a major cotton producer again, and I am committed to work with farmers and ginners to make this happen,” he emphasised.

He decried poor market access, inadequate road infrastructure and limited storage facilities for surplus agricultural produce.

Rose Adong, a resident of Kikota trading centre, Olio subcounty in Serere district, said many farmers had abandoned cotton in favour of better-paying crops such as sunflower and maize due to low and unreliable prices, high labour intensity and competition for land.

“Farmers rely on ginners for inputs like seeds and fertilisers, and the late announcement of prices leaves them vulnerable to exploitative middlemen,” she explained.

Uganda’s cotton is mainly exported as lint, but there remains significant potential for value addition through developing by-products.

FDC party president Patrick Amuriat Oboi said high-quality Ugandan cotton could command higher prices if branded as a premium product.

No cattle compensation, no vote

Amuriat also urged voters to reject the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) government, which he accused of failing to compensate families who lost cattle during the early years of President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni’s rule in 1986–87 and the early 1990s.

“We started this campaign in Kumi district, and we do not expect those families which lost their cows to the Karamajong raiders and other unknown thieves to stop supporting NRM because they made you poor,” he said.

Before President Museveni came to power, Amuriat noted, each family had between 20 and 100 heads of cattle, but persistent raids by the Karamajong had left many people destitute.

“Where did the Karamajong get access to guns, yet the government has since 1986 claimed to be champions of peace when they have failed to disarm those rustlers? They failed their sole principle of protecting people and their property, but we shall address it as FDC,” he promised.