President Yoweri Museveni has advised the people of Moyo District in the West Nile Region to carry out their part of creating wealth for themselves while government also plays its own role of developing the country’s infrastructures.
The President was this afternoon addressing a rally in Moyo District held at Moyo Boys’ Primary School grounds in Moyo Town
“You are cheating government if you are not doing your part. Government builds roads, hospitals and has brought security. It is now your part to wake up and get out of poverty. Bringing tarmac without people having shoes to walk on it is not right,” he observed.
He said that government development projects alone would not help them get out poverty rather that it was their part to create household income for themselves and live well using the infrastructure created by Government.
“NRM is like a parent to the population. We did not just go into politics for propaganda. We are doing all the developments to make you better. If you go to Kampala all the developments are there but why are there poor people? It means government development alone is not enough,” he said.
President Museveni emphasized the need for people to shift from subsistence agriculture to calculative commercial production adding that this would help them stop working alone as families but would also enable them to employ more people as well.
He stressed that one of the reasons why there were fewer jobs was due to the country’s error in donating jobs by buying from other countries.
He re-echoed the need for entrepreneurs to start building factories that can manufacture products that Ugandans were buying from outside.
“Now that we have enough electricity, we can start making our own products. Second hand clothes are taking US$71 million. We earn about US$500 million from coffee but we immediately send it back to buy those clothes. We can do paper industries from bamboo trees and employ people,” he said.
On health, President Museveni informed the people of Moyo that they could avoid 80% of the diseases afflicting them if they carried out good health practices like good nutrition, taking clean water, avoiding alcohol and refraining from promiscuity.
At the end of the rally, the President, in a live press briefing, stressed that wealth creation would not only help improve their lives but also indirectly solve national challenges.
He observed that people who establish big factories and do large-scale commercial agriculture, can help employ others.
Regarding the erratic weather that is affecting the ability of farmers to derive good household income, the President that it was also the job of all to spread the conservation message and teach people about the dangers of settling and carrying out production activities in wetlands and forests.
He noted that while it would be easy for the government to remove people from wetlands, it was equally wise for the people to first understand why it was not right to settle in such places.
“It is like this problem of Apaa where some people entered a National Park. Because of lies, people have died. Let us align our talking because it is very easy to regain these wetlands and forests and support conservation,” he emphasized.
Turning to the issue of Wango land dispute between the people of Madi and those across the border of South Sudan, President Museveni advised the people to refer to the constitution of Uganda that has a clear map of the colonial borders.
On corruption, late arrival and poor quality materials from Operation Wealth Creation, the President said that Government is in the process of causing restructuring of the project.
