Common Man's Party presidential candidate Mubarak Munyagwa has taken his 2026 election campaign to Arua City, calling for an end to President Museveni's four-decade rule and pledging equitable distribution of national resources, respect for human rights and accelerated development in West Nile.
Munyagwa arrived in the city atop a lorry tipper, making several stops across Arua as he addressed residents on his manifesto and urged them to support political change.
He said his presidency would prioritise fairness in resource allocation and restore constitutionalism and civil liberties.
The campaign, however, drew sharp attention when Munyagwa held a roadside press briefing and described former president Idi Amin Dada as a national hero whose legacy, he argued, had been deliberately tarnished by the current regime.
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"General Idi Amin Dada, like it or not, is a hero, one of the heroes of this country," Munyagwa said. "True, there were some excesses which some of them were committed by these rebels who were in Tanzania (by then) to blame them against Idi Amin."
He said that if elected, his government would posthumously honour the former president, a native of Koboko in West Nile, despite Amin's widely documented human rights abuses during his rule from 1971 to 1979.
Crisscrossing the city from Vurra Junction to Manibe Roundabout, Munyagwa told residents that his leadership would ensure all regions benefit equally from Uganda's resources.
He said his admiration for Amin stemmed from how the former president handled foreign investors and defended Uganda's economic interests, adding that Amin deserved recognition like other past presidents.
"For us what we admire most from Idi Amin is the way he handled foreigners vis-a-vis our economy, so we strongly believe that he would have been honoured like any other past president even if it is a posthumous honour, which we will give him when President Museveni leaves," he said.
During stops across Arua, Munyagwa pledged to uphold human rights for all citizens, including opposition figures such as Kiiza Besigye, and said his government would expel what he termed exploitative investors while promoting development across West Nile and the rest of the country.
The 46-year-old former chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises said his candidature is aimed at dismantling what he described as entrenched political dominance under Museveni's leadership.
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Residents who interacted with Munyagwa urged him to prioritise addressing youth unemployment, improving education standards and strengthening healthcare services in West Nile, which continues to lag behind other regions in key social indicators.
Responding to concerns about unemployment, Munyagwa proposed compulsory teaching of the French language in West Nile, arguing that it would prepare young people to take up skilled jobs in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo once stability returns.
"The government must put a robust project to teach you French because once Congo stabilises it will need skilled workers. Congolese have spent many years under commotion, they have not got time to study, so we need to prepare our youth for future jobs in Congo," he added.
He said prolonged conflict in eastern Congo had disrupted education, creating future labour gaps that Ugandan youth could fill if adequately trained, positioning West Nile as a regional workforce hub.
Munyagwa is expected to continue his campaign tour on Thursday, December 18, with rallies scheduled in Maracha, Koboko and Yumbe districts.
