Hard work will fight poverty - Museveni

By Robert Atuhairwe

PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has said that Ugandans should use the available social infrastructures like roads to bail themselves out of poverty.

He said though the government is/has constructed many roads in the country they (Ugandans) will not benefit from them by merely looking at them without income projects.

“When you have a good road you will not sleep there to get money or dry cassava there, but you need to have something you will transport on it to get money, then there it will be of help to you and the country at large,” he added.

He was speaking at Hoima playgrounds during a ceremony organized by NRM supporters to appreciate him for keeping Hoima Municipality Member of Parliament Henry Muganwa Kajura in as the First Deputy Prime Minister and minister of public service in the recent cabinet shakeup.

Museveni urged people to engage in meaningful income projects like agriculture which he said is the only sure way to help people especially those in rural areas to get out of poverty as they own land which is a fixed form of production.

He warned people against sub-diving hereditary land which he said has proved to be a detrimental factor to production.

He advised the people to instead use it as a family and share proceeds that get out of the land together.

He added that the average land holding in Uganda is 4 to 5 acres by every household which is not bad and if well planned could help eradicate poverty.

Museveni pledged to come in person to Bunyoro soon to sensitize communities on how they can benefit from the wealth creation operation.

He said if one had an acre of coffee they have the capacity to fetch sh11M per year: ”if one had four acres he can use the second one for fruit trees, third for growing food and the fourth acre use it for animal, poultry, piggery and if you are living near a river one can have fish ponds that way shall be able to fight poverty.”

He said in his 1996 campaigns manifesto he advised how a family can use only four acres to do modern agriculture and create wealth.

He urged local leaders to sensitize the people to embrace the operation wealth creation currently being spearheaded by the UPDF, adding that it has the capacity to transform the country into a middle income one.

Matia Kasaija, the minister of finance and economic planning, said the government has lined up a number of infrastructure projects in Bunyoro sub region especially roads which are currently at procurement stage that are key in bringing development if put to good use.

He named them as the 235km Kigumba-Kyenjojo, Hoima-Wanseko-Biiso and Mubende-Kakumiro-Kagadi among others.