President Yoweri Museveni has said that although the National Resistance Movement (NRM) government is a proven champion of religious freedoms in Uganda where everyone is free to worship and serve God, as they so wish, spiritual edification must be complimented by efforts to create wealth and jobs for the homesteads.
He says all believers should endeavor to join wealth creation simply because life has both spiritual and material needs where one cannot satisfy the spirit and starve the body.
“I want to use this occasion to rally the Muslim community to join the NRM’s wealth creation sensitization drive that I am currently conducting across the country. Whereas we can have spectators in sports and theatre, wealth creation must involve everyone,” H.E Museveni emphasized.
His remarks were contained in a speech delivered on his behalf by the Vice President Major (Rtd) Jessica Alupo Rose Epel during the Iftar dinner to the Muslim Community hosted at State House Entebbe on Friday evening.
It should be noted that early this year President Museveni embarked on an investment and wealth creation tour across the country starting with Acholi sub region and recently West Nile on the theme “securing your future through wealth creation and shared prosperity”.
According to H.E the President, in order to achieve happiness, both the spirit and the body must be fully catered for in terms of food, clothes, medicine, shelter etc., where in a modern economy, you cannot obtain the above without money because they have a monetary cost.
“Money-lessness in a modern economy is equivalent to social suicide. You cannot survive if you are not earning money. This is why we talk of eliminating subsistence farming i.e., the habit of working only for the stomach or food. A person who produces only for his or her own consumption has little output. Such a person cannot prosper because their labour is insufficient to ably provide all the necessities of life,” H.E Museveni added.
He said for instance, the 39% of the households still engaged in subsistence farming, producing only for the stomach, must be integrated into the money economy, to tap into their dormant potential.
“This is very dangerous for the country because it means that they cannot satisfy other needs that can only be obtained with money. Their productivity is very low. This results in low incomes and thus low purchasing power,” the President emphasized, adding that this condition must be addressed by having more people selecting viable enterprises in the four sectors of: commercial agriculture, industries, services and ICT.
Gen. Museveni says although the NRM has established the economic base for Uganda’s socio-economic transformation by prioritizing peace, security, infrastructure development and lobbying for access to regional and international markets, development alone is not enough, although it must come first. Development becomes useful when it is translated into jobs and wealth for the households.
“Therefore, I urge you all to take advantage of these positive conditions to create wealthy and prosperous families,” he noted.
Power is coming to Obongi
The President last week assured the people of Obongi district that their area will soon get electricity and will also be linked with the rest of Uganda through a good road network.
The President who was concluding his 3-day Tour of West Nile sub-region to popularize the Wealth Creation program made the remarks last week while addressing a public rally at Obongi District Headquarters grounds “The demand of power at that time in West Nile was also very small, only 2 MW. Also, if you pull a strong line of 130 KV of electricity it could damage machines,” he explained.
He said a temporary solution was therefore sought and that was to develop Nyagak power station that will generate 2 MW and will be operational by November 2023 ending the long darkness that has been experienced by the people of the area. He further pledged a powerful line of 400 KV from Karuma, Olwiyo, Moyo, Koboko to Adjumani.
Preserve wealth, Museveni urges youth
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni is optimistic that the Presidential zonal industrial hubs for skilling the youth will help Uganda to stop importing what can be made locally.
While addressing a gathering shortly after commissioning the Zonal Industrial hub for Madi sub-region located in Dazaipi, Adjumani district last Thursday, the President noted that while training the youth, the industrial hubs should remember to put emphasis on addressing the basic human needs namely; food, shelter and clothing, saying these can turn into business for them to earn a living in future.
“It is important that our children get the skills because when you look at all of you, the shirts you’re putting on, you’re supporting foreign business. You paid money to support foreign businesses, yet your children don’t have money. I want these children to learn to make everything we use here, so that we preserve our wealth and don’t squander it,” H.E Museveni noted, adding that the items produced must have the market within Uganda, Africa and globally. He promised to support the beneficiaries further to put into action what they have learnt.
The President encouraged the administrators of the industrial hub to expand the scope of what they teach the youth and add on among other things how to make animal feeds from maize and other raw materials.
PDM beneficiaries get 2-year grace period
Mr Museveni also told the people of West Nile to stop being spectators and join the money economy in order to fight poverty and create wealth.
At rally in the West Nile sub-region, the President revealed that since 1995, he has been trying to persuade Ugandans to save themselves from poverty.
“We started with Entandiikwa by sending you money, then we went to NAADS, then we involved Gen Saleh with Operation Wealth Creation. Gen. Saleh has had some impact because before him in 2013, the people who were in the money economy were only 32 per cent; 68 per cent were outside. We called them spectators. Now the number of spectators has reduced, it’s now 39 per cent out of 100 but even that one is too high. Why should you be a spectator when others are involved in money making?” he wondered, adding, “We want spectators in sports but we don’t want spectators in the economy.”
President Museveni also urged the locals in West Nile to embrace the Parish Development Model (PDM) and explained why the government decided to come up with such a program.
“Gen. Saleh had done some work but we started hearing complaints that the soldiers are only sharing among themselves or to their relatives and that they are buying inferior seedlings and that they are overpricing them. So that is why we said, why don’t you come in yourselves because in all these programs like Entandiikwa, NAADS, Operation Wealth Creation, it was government officials buying seedlings and distributing them according to the way they decided and they were doing it from far,” he observed.
“That is why we said no, let us change. We said let the people do it themselves; the wealth creators in each parish should organize themselves, elect their leaders so that we send the money to them and they buy the inputs themselves.”
The President further cautioned the PDM SACCO leaders not to pressurize beneficiaries to pay back the borrowed money within a period of one year. He said they can start paying back after 24 months.
“They don’t have to pay back in one year because they are borrowing mainly for agriculture. When you borrow for agriculture, crops are not always ready in one year. If it is for instance coffee, it will take over 18 months so there’s no harm if this person starts paying back after 24 months and he doesn’t have to pay back all of it at ago. He can start paying after 24 months and finish paying after 48 months, with very little interest, I have no problem with that. He pays back not to the government but to your parish SACCO,” he emphasized.
Mr. Museveni also reminded the people of West Nile that the PDM money is targeted to strategic activities and meant to get 39 percent of Ugandans out of poverty through calculated commercial agriculture.
“Our money is not for burial or growing marikwang. Ours is to help our people enter into enterprises which have got a national, regional and international relevance. When my family starts growing coffee, immediately they are linked to the world economy. Once our families are hooked on that, perpetually they will be making money. We want to secure our future economically,” he said.
“If we see the program moving on well, I can convince the MPs to add money, instead of Shs100 million we put Shs200 million. We can also have PDM in the city also. Since you have nowhere to farm, your job is to sell what other people have produced. So, the people in the village produce and you sell or if you are more organized you can process.”
The President also advised the locals to embrace the 4-acre model if they want to get the best out of the PDM funds.
During an interaction session, the locals complained to the President about the high levels of corruption by government officials in Arua. They pointed out the management of Arua Central Market which dubiously took away their stalls and currently they have nowhere to operate from.
The President assured them that he will deal with the corrupt officials decisively.
“We are going to crush any corrupt person in Uganda. The corrupt are playing with fire, we are going to finish them,” he warned.
At the same event, President Museveni handed over customary land titles to 11 people from two districts- Koboko and Maracha. He also extended a financial support of Shs120 million to artistes in West Nile to set up a music studio.
Ora County Member of Parliament, Hon. Lawrence Biyika Songa applauded the President for starting the process of transforming Uganda through spreading the wealth creation gospel around the country.
“The people of West Nile are with you,” Hon. Songa assured Gen. Museveni.
We need players not spectators in wealth creation
President Yoweri Museveni wants all Ugandans to play their part in wealth creation for Uganda to achieve collective development and prosperity through among other means practicing modern commercial and calculated agriculture to fight poverty at household level.
While addressing leaders in Arua as he began his tour on investment and wealth creation in West Nile on Tuesday under the theme: “Securing your future through wealth creation and shared prosperity” His Excellency the President revealed that while the money economy has grown from four percent in 1969 to 68 percent currently, there is still a lot to be done. He called upon every Ugandan to join the money economy.
“For economy we don’t need spectators, we need all people to be players. Seeing some people spectating while others are making money, that’s not acceptable,” H.E Museveni said.
According to President Museveni, Uganda has achieved the minimum economic recovery by reviving items like the 3 Cs-coffee, cotton, copper and the 3 Ts-Tea, Tourism and Tobacco which had collapsed during Uganda’s political troubles of 1950’s.
He said by 1986 when the NRM came into government, he was fully aware of this problem that money economy had collapsed and they embarked on the minimum economic recovery by reviving the 3Ts and 3Cs.
