President Yoweri Museveni has begun his three-day tour of West Nile as he met leaders of the sub-region at Arua city golf course where various issues to do with wealth creation and economic empowerment were discussed.
Museveni said his government has declared a protracted war on fighting poverty through the parish development model and it is the very reason behind his regional tours across the country.
“The purpose of this trip is to concentrate on the issue of the wealth for the homesteads. I have been in this struggle for the last 60 years. I started in my area in Ankole. The problem I saw when I was growing up in Ntungamo was that our part of the country was very rich with good soils, banana plantations and cows but people had no money,” Museveni said.
He recalled one family in Ndeija (a sub-county in Ntungamo) area which was involved in coffee growing. The rest of the population in the district had food but they also had non-food needs which were never taken care of so, “our student group started sensitizing the people on how they can begin to make money to take care of other essential needs.”
He encouraged all Ugandans to take the NRM message of social economic transformation and household incomes very seriously to integrate the 39% of the population still working for the stomach into the money economy.
Museveni termed subsistence producers as economic spectators who are merely looking on as the rest are playing, noting, “This is not football. It is unacceptable for young people to spectate as others make money. Although the data shows a decline from 68% in 1986 to 39% today, more efforts are needed to reduce it to zero,” Museveni said.
On his way to Arua city, President Museveni made stopovers in Madi-Odollo and Nebbi districts where he inspected several model farmers including Mr Aliamoi Swaib who has a big orange farm that gives him 20 million monthly. He commended them for being visionary and wealth creators saying, “Wealth creation is the strength of the country.”
The NRM Secretary-General, Rt.Hon.Richard Todwong asked government officials to prioritize accountability to the public if the ruling party is to maintain the massive support it has enjoyed in the country especially West Nile for many decades.
He said the people of West Nile have highly supported NRM for a long time with hopes of having their challenges dealt with and so, the government should fast-track better service delivery like good roads, sustainable power and fighting poverty.
"Accountability is key to public trust. I commend the President for this initiative of bringing all ministers to explain what they are doing for the people. We shall make sure all our pledges are fulfilled such that campaigns are made easy by 2026," Todwong said.
Museveni will address a rally tomorrow in Arua city before leaving for Obongi district on Thursday where he will interact with residents on issues affecting them.
The meeting was attended by Vice President Maj (Rtd) Jessica Alupo, Ministers, Members of Parliament and several leaders from the West Nile sub-region.