Museveni Swearing-In Disrupts Gulu-Kampala Bus Transport as Fares Surge

Normal bus services from Gulu City to Uganda’s capital, Kampala, were significantly disrupted on Tuesday as President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni took the oath for a seventh term in office. The Gulu-Kampala Highway is a major transport corridor linking towns and cities in the Acholi sub-region and neighboring South Sudan to Kampala.

However, following Museveni’s inauguration after being declared the winner of the January 15, 2026, presidential election by the Electoral Commission, fewer passengers and buses traveled from the region to the capital. A spot check by Uganda Radio Network found that fewer buses than usual departed from major bus terminals in Gulu City on Tuesday morning. Booking clerks and bus operators attributed the low turnout to the presidential swearing-in ceremony.

By the time this story was published, Lamogi Ber Bus Terminal in Bardege-Layibi Division, Larem Bus Company, which normally dispatches two buses every morning, had released only one bus to Kampala. Robylyn Bus had also not sent any buses along the busy Kampala route by midday.

Similarly, bus companies such as Gulu Coach and Zawadi Bus had not crossed through the city by press time. Divine Bus was among the few operators seen plying through the city center during the day. Nicholas Ocan, a booking clerk and Gulu City Manager for Bebeto Coach Services, told Uganda Radio Network that the shortage of buses had triggered a sharp increase in transport fares.

According to Ocan, fares rose from about Shs30,000 on Monday to at least Shs40,000 on Tuesday because many buses had been hired by the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party to transport delegates to the ceremony.

Ocan added that many passengers had resorted to using taxis due to the limited number of buses available. Charles Kit Okot, Managing Director of Makome Bus Company, said business was slow in the morning as many travelers avoided journeys late Monday night and early Tuesday due to the inauguration activities.

Okot said that while the company normally dispatches two buses every morning, bookings for the Gulu-Kampala route had still not been filled by midday. “We still have a bus on the way from Kitgum Municipality. During this period, especially yesterday (May 11 and 12), because of the presidential swearing-in, we have only two buses, one from Kitgum and another from Kampala coming to Gulu,” Okot said.

He also noted that many passengers had postponed their travel plans due to the ongoing swearing-in ceremony and heightened security deployment in Kampala city center. Okot, however, acknowledged that four of the company’s buses had been hired by Members of Parliament from the region for their swearing-in ceremony scheduled for Wednesday.

Despite the inauguration taking place more than 300 kilometres from Gulu City, the event attracted little public celebration in the city. Gulu remained largely calm, with no significant security deployment reported. Gifter Aber, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) chairperson for Gulu City, told Uganda Radio Network on Tuesday that about 100 delegates had traveled from the city to attend the ceremony in Kololo.

Museveni, now 82, came to power in January 1986 after a guerrilla war and has remained in office ever since. He is among Africa’s longest-serving leaders, and his latest swearing-in extends his rule to 45 years by 2031