Bunyoro youth should use President Museveni’s donations productively

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OPINION

By Hadijah Namyalo Uzeiye

Some time back, when President Yoweri Museveni was addressing leaders from Bunyoro sub-region at Kontiki Hotel in Hoima, he told them: “I want Ugandans to understand that our limited resources mean we cannot do everything at once. We must prioritise, handling the most pressing issues first, which we have done with electricity, roads, security, schools and hospitals, among others.”

In the particular case of Bunyoro, he promised: “Just like I have done elsewhere, I am going to put up a model farm in Bunyoro sub-region to show people that small-scale commercial agriculture is possible and they should pick a leaf to help themselves out of poverty.”

He then directed the local leaders of Bunyoro: “The leaders should conduct surveys in their communities to determine the number of people still below the poverty line and ways which we can support them.”

In keeping with the directive, the administrators of the office of the national chairman of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) at Kyambogo, tasked its co-ordinators in Bunyoro, such as Brian Tunura (regional co-ordinator Bunyoro) and Irene Adokorach (co-ordinator Kiryandongo district) with identifying organised youth groups for empowerment with start-up capital items.

The identified groups include Youth Alive Bweyale Group, Kanyagoga Youth Group, Bimahanga Youth Group, Yellow Team Bweyale Youth Group, Nyakadot Youth Development Network, Adwogo Youth United Group, Bweyale Market Women Initiative Group, Mungutimu Youth Group, Kirayandongo Youth Group, Nyamahoza Youth Group, Islamic Youth Group and Bweyale Small-Scale Youth Earners group, among others.

After the aforementioned groups were identified, the national chairman of NRM, Gen. Museveni, donated start-up capital items to them at a function held at Bweyale on April 26.

The donated items included carpentry machines, tailoring machines, grinding machines, welding machines, hair shaving machines, hoes, spray pumps, popcorn making machines, charcoal stoves, beauty salon dryers, maize seeds and fertilisers.

On behalf of Gen. Museveni, I was privileged to deliver them. Present at the function was the RDC of Kiryandongo, Dan Muganga and the district chairperson, Aliguma Adyeeri.

“The empowerment tools you have delivered today will fit this generation of youths because we have already trained them and they know how to use the tools you have delivered,” Aliguma said.

Such an assurance by the district chairperson is comforting because there are a number of development projects which the President initiated, but they collapsed because the implementing officers and beneficiaries slept on their jobs. This time, let the beneficiaries in Bunyoro make good use of these items to better their economic lives.

That is the way to go, considering that the President categorically tells Ugandans: “The cure of socio-economic transformation is homestead income. Once that is addressed, the rest of the needs are easy to address.”

Fighting poverty at household level is now the major challenge in Bunyoro because the other infrastructural needs in this sub-region are largely resolved, especially the tarmacking of the major roads. Some time back, the President testified: “We have paid the debts of the roads in Bunyoro. We have worked on all major roads. We shall also work on the other few remaining roads.”

The youth in Bunyoro should productively use the donations from the President. God willing, more empowerment donations will be delivered to other parts of the country like in Masaka next week.

The writer is a senior presidential adviser, political affairs, Office of the National Chairperson/national co-ordinator Bazzukulu