Nearly a year after President Museveni pledged Shs 100 million to empower Mbale’s sex workers, frustration has boiled over. As the President returns to the region for campaign rallies, the women say they feel used, abandoned, and forgotten.
Mbale City, Uganda — November 2025
Tension is simmering in Mbale City as a group of sex workers under their association NEKO SACCO break their silence, accusing President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of betraying a high-profile promise made almost a year ago — a pledge of Shs 100 million meant to help them transition into formal businesses.
The women, many of them single mothers and survivors of street hardships, now say the President’s promise — made with fanfare at the Bugisu Youth Symposium in 2024 — has never materialized. With Museveni’s campaign entourage preparing to storm Mbale this week, the women are demanding answers.
“We have waited for a whole year, believing in the President’s word,” said Jane Namalwa, one of the group’s leaders. “But nothing has come. We feel used for publicity — and now they’re back asking for our votes again!”
A Promise Lost in the Political Winds
The Shs 100 million pledge, publicly announced after intervention by Hadijah Namyalo, head of the Office of the National Chairman (ONC), was supposed to empower the women to start legitimate ventures — tailoring, salon work, catering, and small trade.
However, insiders reveal that no official communication or disbursement ever followed. The group says they have written letters, made phone calls, and even visited local offices — but met silence and bureaucratic runarounds.
“They clapped for us, called us ‘Bazzukulu ba Museveni,’ promised to lift us from the streets,” lamented another member. “Now, not even a coin has reached our hands.”
Politics Meets Pain
With election fever sweeping across the country, analysts say the timing of this outcry is no coincidence. The women’s plea underscores the growing skepticism among grassroots groups about unfulfilled presidential pledges that often make headlines during campaign seasons but rarely reach the intended beneficiaries.
Critics argue that the Mbale pledge scandal exposes deeper cracks in the government’s social empowerment programs. While officials insist that administrative procedures take time, locals interpret the silence as a symbol of political neglect.
As Campaigns Heat Up
As the President’s convoy prepares to roll into Mbale, the NEKO SACCO women say they will not stay quiet.
“We won’t dance and sing this time,” warned Namalwa. “Not until the Shs 100 million is in our account.”
For them, this is no longer just about money — it’s about dignity, accountability, and justice.
