President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has contributed Shs 200 million towards the construction of Lwengo Muslim District Headquarters and Health Center IV.
“Since I’m one of the people who are in government and have some capacity, I will now start by contributing Shs 200 million. If that money is not enough after all of us have collected, you will let me know, and I will add on,” President Museveni said.
The President made the contribution on Thursday 21st March 2024 during the fundraising ceremony for the construction of Lwengo Muslim District Headquarters and Health Center IV at Mbirizi, Lwengo Town Council.
President Museveni however explained that the fundraising would have made more sense if all the homesteads in Lwengo had stable incomes and were able to contribute relatively large sums of money that would enable the project to be constructed easily and quickly.
“I’m happy that the Muslim community is trying to build a health centre and headquarters for their own administrative Center and that is why we are here to support them,” he said.
“Fundraising means you all contribute but now if you have got a few rich people that is not real fundraising. In the 1950s, my father Mzee Amos Kaguta and his colleagues in our village in Ntungamo used to drink local beer at only Shs5 and here they had to contribute equally to buy the local beer. Therefore, we can contribute what we can, but it will make more sense if all homesteads have stable incomes, and they are able to contribute something big.”
The President also permitted the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) Engineers Brigade to carry out the construction works of the project worth Shs1 billion.
President Museveni’s permission followed a request by Lwengo District Woman Member of Parliament, Hon. Cissy Namujju to have UPDF involved in the project.
On the other hand, President Museveni was also happy to note that a good number of the people of Lwengo had listened to the National Resistance Movement’s (NRM) wealth-creation message.
“As many people were saying, the NRM has a clear treatment for the problems of the people of Uganda right from the beginning. However, for some reason, people were not listening to our message for a long time but when you listen, definitely you will gain,” he stressed.
“When I was driving here, I stopped at a place called Kiswera, I was looking at the gardens and I saw a number of people with coffee, and I was very happy with that. That is different from the way it was in the past. You remember we were here during the fighting but very few had coffee. Therefore, I want to thank people like Col. Nsamba. He was injured when we were attacking Kabamba Barracks in the 1980s in Kikandwa forest near Semuto and he was actually near where I was. He lost his arm, but it seems he has done a good job in distributing coffee in this area and all those people who have listened to our message,” he added.
The President, however, urged that all people must be involved in the money economy, not a few, so that the government is able to realise the much-needed socio-economic transformation.
“Through the Parish Development Model (PDM), we are saying that, in all Parishes, all families must engage in food security and also wealth creation through working for money. If you have land, do commercial agriculture and food security. I have already done it in many parts of Uganda where I started. In the cattle corridor, we introduced dairy farming there and if you go there, you will find family by family engaged in food security and also income generation,” he said.
“Therefore, I don’t want to see some families who have land but don’t have a cash-generating activity. The NRM leaders like the RDCs, the Ministers and MPs should ensure this. I have done it in Kisozi because there I have got nine villages near me in both Gomba and Sembabule. There are 2,035 homesteads. The majority of them are involved in income generation and food security. That is what I want to be done everywhere.”
The President further highlighted that the PDM money was calculated, and the government knew very well that it would serve its purpose of bringing the 39 percent of Ugandans still working for the stomach to join the money economy.
“Now our “kibaro” is if we give you Shs1m, suppose you target one acre of coffee, we calculated that you need 450 seedlings to cover one acre of Robusta coffee. We knew that to get 450 seedlings you would need Shs180,000 that time. Therefore, from the Shs1m, you will use Shs180,000 to buy the seedlings and you remain with Shs820,000 to do other things like digging the holes. That Shs1m had a purpose, and we are sending Shs100m per Parish per year. That means in 4 years we would cover 400 homes,” President Museveni revealed.
“I want you, the NRM leaders, to go home by home to know how many have been covered and how many are remaining because we don’t want spectators, we want players. Unlike in the football game, we don’t want that in wealth creation. Everybody on the economic side must be a player. That is the medicine for poverty through commercial agriculture with ekibaro.”
President Museveni further disclosed that people without land or not interested in agriculture can go into other projects like artisanship to create wealth.
“There are the Emyooga such as carpentry, welding, tailoring and bakery. So, we have now put for you that arrangement also based at the constituency. Services like boda bodas and hotels are also part of the Emyooga. All that money is available for you. Each year we shall be adding on.”
The President also reiterated his call for free education for all in government schools.
“We started UPE in 1997 but as Kitatta was saying some of the people did not understand the meaning of this free education. We knew there were very many families which could not afford education, which is why we said if parents cannot afford it, let the government pay for their children. Therefore, those who are bringing back charges in government schools are making a very big mistake. Let the children study for free. We have discussed it in government. During the Corona period, we had a lot of challenges; we had so many things to do, so we could not get tough on those who were fighting our policy but where we are going, we are going to get time to insist on free education for children in government schools,” he said.
“If you have got “bona bagagawale” through commercial agriculture and others through Emyooga, then you have all children going to school, the children of the rich can go to where they can pay but for the poor like these ones here should study free. You heard that the school here was able to get 10 first grades so it can work. If you do that, the whole country can come up. Therefore, we can move if you listen carefully to the NRM.”
The outgoing Minister of Defence and Veteran Affairs, Hon. Vincent Bamulangaki Ssempijja commended President Museveni for being able to unite Ugandans irrespective of their different tribes and religions.
“Seeing people here from different religious denominations is not by chance, it is because of you. You have always taught us unity. We no longer have differences in tribes and religions. Thank you very much, sir.”
The Lwengo District Woman Member of Parliament, Hon. Cissy Namujju thanked President Museveni for his visionary leadership that has led to the development of Lwengo and Uganda as a whole.
The Lwengo District LC5 Chairperson, Mr. Kitatta Ibrahim welcomed the President to Lwengo and thanked him for his support toward the district.
“Your Excellency, we thank you for giving us a specialised hospital in Lwengo and once the construction works are done, we shall invite you to commission it.”
The Grand Mufti of Uganda, Sheikh Shaban Ramadan Mubajje also thanked H.E. the President for his immense contribution toward the development of Uganda.
“God blessed you with knowledge and vision to see far and that is why Uganda is where it is at the moment. Your Excellency, you managed to fight the killer diseases, promoted education, and fought poverty, among other attributes,” Sheikh Mubajje said.
The function was also attended by the Minister of State for Microfinance, Hon. Haruna Kasolo, Bukoto South MP, Hon. Twaha Kagabo, Bukoto West MP, Hon. Muhammad Muyanja Ssentayi, Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) Chairperson, Prof. Muhammad Lubega Kisambira, local government leaders, religious leaders, among others.
