Museveni shakes hands with Muhwezi at Kebisoni in Rukungiri yesterday

By Caleb Bahikaho and Raymond Baguma

PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has attacked opposition leader Kizza Besigye for saying neighbouring Rwanda pays its civil servants higher salaries than Uganda.

“It is true that the Rwandan Government pays good salaries to its workers. But Besigye should also have said that there is no Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Universal Secondary Education (USE) in Rwanda,” the President said while addressing a public rally at Kebisoni county headquarters in Rukungiri yesterday.

“Besigye stood for presidency and he should not tell lies because the president is second to God and a President should not tell lies,” Museveni told hundreds of supporters.

“If we pay more salaries, then children will not go to school. So should we scrap UPE in order to pay more money for salaries? Tell Besigye that a person who wants to be president should not tell lies.”

Because of the popularity of UPE, he added, residents of Rwanda, the DR Congo and Tanzania living in border areas were sending their children to schools in Uganda.

The President was reacting to comments Besigye made in Rukungiri on Friday. New Vision ran the story yesterday.

Museveni stressed that the Government was spending sh520b on education every year under the UPE and USE programmes.

The president is touring Rukungiri to sensitise people on the Prosperity for All programme, which emphasises increased household income and the formation of savings cooperatives.

Last week, during a tour in the same district, Besigye praised Rwandan President Paul Kagame for steering his country to prosperity where he said all nationals benefit. He said Ugandans were flocking to Rwanda to get jobs.

Museveni cited as other achievements of the NRM Government the eradication of diseases like polio through immunisation, the reduction of HIV/AIDS prevalence and the current campaign to eradicate household poverty.

He thanked residents of Rukungiri for voting three terms in a row for the NRM, saying it was the reason why the standard of living had improved.

“Rukungiri used not to have electricity, neither did Ntungamo, Kanungu or Kabale. Now there is electricity, an improved road network, water and telephone services.”

He also stressed that the NRM ushered in peace when neighbouring countries like Congo and Sudan were still experiencing instability.

Museveni was welcomed in Rukungiri by hundreds of ululating supporters and boda-boda riders, waving his 2006 campaign posters, wearing yellow NRM T-Shirts and dry banana leaves.

At Buyanja trading centre, his convoy was blocked by jubilant crowds and he was compelled to address the gathering. Earlier in the day, he toured a banana farm in Kafunjo, belonging to Wilson Kambari. The owner earns about sh10m annually from his bananas. Kambari also has a solar drier for bananas, which is run by a women’s group in the village.

Museveni donated sh2m to Kambari to buy heifers. He also promised to support his poultry project by buying a food mixer and hatchery under the NAADS programme.

He later visited a farm in Rwankoma village belonging to Charles Karikatyo who rears dairy and beef cattle and earns about sh18m annually from the sale of beef and milk.

The President promised to provide a tractor to improve the quality of his pastures.

Museveni was accompanied by Rujumbura MP Jim Muhwezi and state ministers Ssezi Mbaguta and Dorothy Hyuha. Also present were Rukungiri MP Winnie Matsiko and Rubabo MP Paula Turyahikayo.

Rukungiri National Agricultural Advisory Services coordinator Zephar Karyaija said sh830m had been made available to Rukungiri this year for fighting poverty.