Mafabi Vows Jobs for Youth, Better Health and Education as FDC Presidential Candidate

Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) presidential candidate Nathan Nandala Mafabi was duly nominated on Wednesday to represent his party in the 2026 election.

Mafabi was nominated at the Electoral Commission grounds in Lubowa by EC Chairperson Justice Simon Byabakama. In his first major address after nomination, Mafabi set out a detailed manifesto roadmap focused on agriculture, cooperatives, job creation, village-level financing and improved public services.

Speaking to the media, Mafabi said his administration would prioritise giving farmers markets for their produce and solving post-harvest losses through public storage and warehouse receipts. “If there’s no market, the government will make sure to provide the market. We shall have stores, silos, to keep our produce,” he said.

Mafabi described the commonplace plight of smallholder farmers: a family producing ten bags of maize with nowhere safe to store them. “If we have a responsible government, this maize should have been kept by the government and the farmer issued with a warehouse receipt, which he can cash anytime for his life,” he said.

He put special emphasis on coffee, Uganda’s leading foreign-exchange earner. Mafabi noted that neighbouring countries are capturing premiums on coffee exports while Uganda’s beans fetch lower prices.

“You will discover that the Kenya coffee, which has poor quality, and Rwanda, is going at a higher price compared to ours. That is why they come here to buy ours to blend theirs, instead of us getting the highest premium,” he said. He promised that under his leadership, coffee farmers would secure better value.

Revitalising cooperatives is also part of Mafabi’s pitch to the voters. Drawing on his experience as chairman of a cooperative union, he said cooperative societies are indispensable to national development and pledged to “revamp and revitalise cooperatives” so they work for ordinary people. “There is no country which can develop without cooperatives. Leave the lip service,” he told the rally.

Mafabi also outlined ambitious village-level financing proposals embedded in the party manifesto, which he said had already influenced national debate.

“Every village will have 100 million shillings every year. Every parish will have 100 million. Every sub-county, going up to the district, 500 million,” he said, adding that the funds would be possible by plugging corruption and recovering an estimated Shs10 trillion lost to mismanagement. “We have 72,000 villages. If I give you 100 million, that is 7.2 trillion,” he noted, arguing the money could be mobilised by cutting corruption.

On jobs and youth empowerment, he promised to prioritise investment in productive sectors and direct support for graduates.

“Every graduate who is going to leave, on the day of your graduation, you will go with one million shillings to go and start life,” he said, urging voters to demand leaders who keep their promises.

Mafabi aimed at the long incumbency of President Museveni while expressing gratitude for what he termed past service. “We want to thank President Museveni for doing what he could for 40 years. It is time for him to be a senior citizen, our advisor. Let him rest,” Mafabi said, adding that his campaign sought “new blood” to implement promised reforms.

He further pledged improved public services, including regional referral hospitals to reduce medical tourism, and better distribution of civil-service housing and medical personnel to prevent avoidable deaths.

“I want you to go to a hospital and get what you would get in India. I want you to go to a hospital and get what you would get in Turkey,” he said, stressing equity of care across regions.

Education and sports also featured in his speech. Mafabi promised sports facilities in schools and equal treatment and pay for teachers, arguing that every teacher, whether of English, mathematics or the sciences, must be valued. “There is no teacher who should not be paid equally,” he said, linking improved human capital to national development.

Mafabi said his campaign would be visible among disadvantaged communities, announcing a planned rally in Ebutarika to demonstrate solidarity with slum dwellers and highlight grassroots problems. “We did it intentionally… We are part of that problem. It’s time to solve it,” he told supporters.

Mafabi called for unity and reconciliation. “I come as a reconciler and I am the one who brings unity in this country,” he said, urging Ugandans across party lines to back his bid. He reiterated his appeal to voters to support him “without fear or favour,” promising no witch-hunts and inclusive leadership.

He faces President Museveni of NRM, Gen. Mugisha Muntu of ANT and Robert Kyagulanyi of NUP, among other candidates that were nominated today.