Museveni To Clear UNRF Combatants’ Pay After Voting For NRM In 2026
Locals wave at President Museveni as he leaves the venue of the peace celebration in Yumbe on Saturday Photo Credit Andrew Cohen Amvesi
YUMBE. President Yoweri Museveni has promised to clear the payment of the defunct Uganda National Rescue Front (UNRF) combatants after voting for the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party in the coming 2026 general elections.
The President made the promise while launching the payment of the ex-combatants with one billion shillings at Geya primary school playground in Yumbe Town Council, Yumbe district on Saturday, April 12, 2025.
This was during the celebration of the 23 years of total peace in West Nile, which came as a result of signing the 2002 peace-pact between the government of Uganda and the late Maj. Gen. Ali Bamuze’s UNRF II rebel group in Yumbe district.
During the function, President Museveni said the government has earmarked Shs26bn for paying off the ex-combatants in West Nile, but in phases.
“We need Shs26bn to pay the UNRF ex-combatants. I said for this occasion, let us come with Shs1bn to pay some and launch the payment. And in the new financial year which is starting in July, we pay Shs13bn and in the other year after you have elected the NRM, we pay another Shs12bn,” Museveni promised.
The President added that: “We can pay all the Shs26bn at a go but we shall forget other things because we are not dealing with one problem. So, that is why we put something here, we put something there because we have got so many things to deal with.”
Museveni reminded the people of West Nile that currently, the government is working on the bad roads in the region citing the Nebbi – Arua road as an example among others.
“So, please accept this principle of ‘one by one makes a bundle,’ Museveni said as he congratulated his younger brother, Gen. Salim Saleh, and the late Maj. Gen. Ali Bamuze for negotiating the peace agreement.
He also appreciated Gen. Moses Ali’s message read by his son, saying it was geared towards stopping the people of West Nile from unnecessary fighting.
“Fighting is like surgery! Sometimes doctors have to operate on a patient; cut off some parts of his body but you don’t have an operation every time. With headache, you operate, in digestion you operate, coughing you cut the chest, you are going to finish people. Surgery is a means of last resort when the doctors have tried tablets, they have tried injections, they have tried other methods and they are not working, and they say the only solution is to cut,” Museveni stated.
Speaking on behalf of Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), Lt Gen. Charles Okidi, the Commander of Uganda Air Force, said the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs, and the UPDF recognizes the Peace Day in West Nile very seriously because Generals like Salim Saleh and Kale Kayihura played a very big role to win such wars through dialogue.
“I want to thank all Ugandans, especially the people of West Nile for the unity exhibited in this event and for being patriotic. This big number you see is a sign that Ugandans are realizing that patriotism is key for any country to work for itself. It is patriotism which laid the foundation for this peace we are enjoying today. Most people, especially the young ones, are realizing that without peace, there is no development, there is no social economic transformation of our country,” Okidi said.
In her remarks as a guest speaker, Zoe Bakoko Bakoru, the former Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development, said they are now celebrating a triumph of peace and honoring the courage it took to stop fighting, begin building on the sacrifice it took to forgive and move forward together.
She said President Museveni’s steady leadership, commitment to inclusive dialogue and his willingness to listen is what paved the way for the historic peace accord to be signed in Yumbe in 2002.
“That peace deal brought together the Uganda National Rescue Front II and the government of Uganda to find a lasting peace and then after that also to have a lasting peace with UNRF I, with West Nile Bank Front and other groups and there was only one goal; to silence the guns and give our children of West Nile and this country a future. I’m very proud and humbled to have played my role in that journey,” Bakoko said.
Meanwhile Abdultwalib Asiku, the Yumbe district chairperson used the opportunity to also remind President Museveni to consider fulfilling the pledges he made for the people of Yumbe.
Among the pending pledges, Asiku pointed out the construction of Yumbe General hospital to reduce pressure on Yumbe regional referral hospital, Industrial Park establishment to create employment for youths, construction and renovation of Late Gen. Ali Bamuze’s home and the construction of 3-bed-roomed houses for the widows of late Col. Nasur Ezaruku and financial support to the widows among other things.
“Today’s celebration of 23 years of peace in West Nile following the Uganda National Rescue Front (UNRF II) peace accord was not only a moment of reflection, but also a call to action. The Yumbe event reminded us of the strides we have made since 2002 – shifting from conflict to cooperation, from uncertainty to stability. This peace has been the bedrock for development, enabling infrastructural growth, increased education access, and improved health outcomes, though challenges still persist,” said John Bosco Edema, the Aspiring Member of Parliament for Maracha East Constituency who also attended the function.
“I wish to express my deep gratitude to the organizers of this important celebration, and sincerely thank His Excellency the President for gracing the occasion and reaffirming his support for the West Nile region. I also extend my heartfelt appreciation to some of the Members of Parliament for the light moment I shared with them during the celebration which was truly uplifting and a reminder of the unity we must continue to foster,” Edema added.
He said from the speeches made in Yumbe, it was clear that the peace dividend has been real, but fragile.
Edeman, however, called for sustainable development, youth empowerment and measures to address climate change, all of which are critical for lasting peace in West Nile.