06/October/2025
by Y.Emma#lcctv reporter
OYAM DISTRICT, Uganda – Fresh from a pivotal by-election victory that underscored the National Resistance Movement’s (NRM) enduring, yet contested, influence in the north, President Yoweri Museveni is now leveraging his political capital in Oyam District to aggressively promote his flagship Parish Development Model (PDM) as the definitive solution to poverty. The district has transitioned from a high-stakes political battleground to a national showcase for the government’s primary wealth-creation program.
To understand the current context, one must recall the July 2023 by-election for Oyam North Constituency. The race was a nail-biter, pitting the NRM’s Dr. Samuel Okello Engola against the opposition’s UPC candidate, following the tragic murder of former Minister Col. (Rtd) Charles Okello Engola. The election was seen as a critical test of the NRM’s popularity in a region that has historically been an opposition stronghold.
The President descended upon Oyam, holding massive rallies and deploying significant government and party machinery. He framed the election as a choice between the NRM’s “proven development” and what he termed the opposition’s “empty rhetoric.”The NRM candidate narrowly won. This victory, achieved amid intense campaigning, gave Museveni a crucial mandate and a platform to re-engage with the district.
With the political contest settled, the new focus is squarely on socio-economic intervention. President Museveni’s recent communications and directives concerning Oyam are now dominated by the Parish Development Model. Following reports of mismanagement and low absorption of PDM funds across the country, Oyam is now under a microscope. The President’s office has issued directives to district and local leaders, demanding accountability for the disbursed funds. The message is clear: the political victory must be cemented with tangible economic results.
In his recent speeches, including those referencing Oyam, Museveni has moved beyond simply launching the PDM. He is now intensely focused on its implementation phase. His new talking points stress:He is consistently urging farmers to move away from growing food only for domestic consumption and to focus on high-value commercial crops and livestock.
The President is reiterating his long-standing agricultural model, advising families to dedicate one acre to coffee, one to fruits, one to food crops, and one to pastures for zero-grazing animals. This model is being presented as the blueprint for success under the PDM in Oyam.
The district has become a live laboratory for the President’s economic philosophy. The intense political mobilization of the by-election has given way to an equally intense drive for socio-economic transformation through the PDM. The success or failure of this model in Oyam will not only define the district’s future but will also be used as a national benchmark for the NRM’s development agenda ahead of the 2026 general elections.
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