This paper describes the various strategies used by the government to approach informal
urban groups, focusing on market vendors and boda-boda drivers. It argues how, as elections
become more competitive, President Museveni and the National Resistance Movement (NRM)
regime need to reach an increasing number of people in order to remain in power, forcing the
regime into adopting an array of specific strategies. In doing so, the regime relies on a
variety of resources at its disposal, mainly public programmes, the direct disbursement of
financial resources, and policy interventions. This paper revisits and discusses the central
question of the “monetisation” and “commercialisation” of Uganda’s 2011 elections, in
which financial resources were used to attract voters. Particular attention is given to the
SACCOs public programme, as well as other policy interventions and the injection of
financial resources, targeting the urban poor.