By KT Reporter
The Alliance for National Transformation (ANT) presidential candidate, Rtd Maj Gen Mugisha Muntu, has appealed to Ugandans to elect honest and trustworthy leaders. He argues that the country needs integrity-driven leadership to break free from corruption and underdevelopment.
Addressing a campaign rally at Koch Goma Town Council trading center in Nwoya District on Wednesday, Muntu said Uganda’s major challenge is not the lack of resources, but the absence of honest leadership at the top.
“The only way we can break out of this mess is first to have an honest woman or man at the top. Because a fish, as they say, starts rotting from the head,” Muntu told the crowd.
According to Muntu, until an honest man or woman captures the top and cleans it up to the lower level, the situation will likely remain the same.
He noted that once integrity takes root in national leadership, public resources will be properly utilized to improve sectors such as education, health, agriculture, and infrastructure, leading to meaningful national development.
“When you have honesty at the top, national resources are put to the right use. That’s how we can move out of this vicious circle of poverty. That’s why I’m offering myself as a presidential candidate for the ANT,” Muntu said.
The former army commander said his decision to run for president is built on his personal record of integrity, which he said has defined his entire public life.
“I have never, even when I was in a position of responsibility, touched taxpayers’ money. I was a commander of a national army of 100,000 soldiers at the age of 30. I wasn’t overwhelmed by rank, title, or the intoxication of the guns,” he said.
Gen Muntu, now 67, said he has been tested by experience and remains steadfast in his commitment to integrity and transparency. He urged Ugandans to vote for him if they want corruption eliminated, better health services, and fair employment opportunities without bribery.
“If you need drugs in hospitals, if you want corruption to be stamped out, if you want jobs without bribing, and if you want good infrastructure, then you need an honest man up there, and I am that honest man,” Muntu declared.
His message in Nwoya echoed his broader campaign theme centered on fostering leadership with integrity and discipline.
During his rallies in both Koch Goma and Anaka Town Council, Gen Muntu held interactions with his supporters who raised concerns on issues affecting them, among them high unemployment among youth, poverty, drug outbreak in health facilities, and elephants’ invasion into community settlements from the Murchison Falls National Park.
Mercy Aloyo, a resident of Koch Goma Town council, noted that youth unemployment remains a big challenge to their development and hopes the presidential candidates, once elected, should address it in the next government.
Aloyo said young girls, particularly, have been affected by poverty in households, which has driven some into early marriages.
“As the youth, we have a hard life; we don’t have anything good currently in our lives in Nwoya. I’m hopeful that Muntu will keep his promises of helping us, especially those who are already on the streets,” Aloyo told Uganda Radio Network in an interview.
Isaac Lawoko Otunu, another resident, said the rampant incursion of stray elephants in neighboring areas of Lii Sub-county is affecting agriculture and asked how the presidential hopeful would address the issue.
Reacting to the concerns, Muntu faulted the current government over its reluctance to address the human wildlife conflicts not only in Murchison Falls National Park boundaries but also in other areas bordering national parks.
He said such challenges would have easily been settled through the installation of barriers such as electric fences and trenches to deter elephants, adding that even if they are expensive, the government must prioritize the lives of people.
He also pledged priority on strengthening the education and agricultural sectors, which he describes as a strong foundation for the development of individuals and the country.
Gen Muntu started his campaign tour in the Acholi Sub-region on Tuesday evening from Opit Trading Center in Omoro district. Today, he is expected to proceed to the Amuru district after concluding his rallies in the Nwoya district.
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