President Museveni’s heart will always be in Busoga

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OPINION

By Haji Faruk Kirunda

I was asked by a journalist if NRM had given up on Busoga since, according to the him, during the recent Parish Development Model (PDM) assessment tour, President Yoweri Museveni didn’t donate anything and the NRM secretary general gave an “indicting” appraisal where he criticised leaders as not doing much to revive the party — apparently, unlike in other sub-regions.

As a Musoga, I found the imagination of the journalist invaluable for the purpose of reminding Basoga that we still have much to do to balance our economic potential.

President Museveni’s tour was specifically aimed to reawaken our people, with PDM as the highlight — and model farming.

This tour, as aptly named, was about checking on progress of the implementation of the initiative, alongside model farming. During every term in office, the President does a countrywide round promoting the wealth creation programme(s) of the day.

This tour has taken him to various sub regions namely: Greater Masaka, Bugisu, Bukedi, Teso, Karamoja, Lango, Ankole, Kigezi, Bunyoro and Busoga. He is due to cover other areas.

As noted, Busoga is among areas already visited. If NRM had given up on Busoga, the head of state would have skipped it.

Busoga, like other sub-regions in the country, is benefiting from PDM.

Is there any single parish (in Busoga) that has been left out?

When the President is planning his interventions, he plans for every part of the country without favouritism.

PDM’s uniqueness makes it a groundbreaking intervention which, if all beneficiaries appreciated it as conceptualised, would change a lot of things in the situation of our people.

Even when thinking politically, PDM deserves to be rewarded in terms of electoral support if that’s what our good journalist meant. The tour in itself was a working operation, but if one wishes to link it to politics, it fits in well with the 2021-2026 manifesto implementation agenda, which gives NRM an advantage. Looking on the other side, what do they have to offer that counters or is better than PDM?

On the idea that the President didn’t make donations during this particular tour, this is not true, but also a misrepresentation of the purpose of the donations.

The said donations, since time immemorial, are made to support those who ask for or need them — and not to procure political favours.

It is wrong to always think in terms of elections because people need time to work and fight poverty and backwardness. On top of that, how can one tell that everyone who receives a donation or support from the President automatically votes a certain way?

I would also think that if the political situation in Busoga is unfavourable for NRM as alleged, then that is where more donations would be made in order to turn around the party’s fortunes.

All the same, during his Busoga tour, the President supported model farmers with capital to boost their enterprises.

In Luuka district, for example, he visited Mr. Eliot Mukasa, a PDM farmer located at Buwanda village, Nawampiti.

Mukasa received sh1m in the first phase of 2022/2023 and ventured into commercial farming, focusing on passion fruits and vegetables.

He later bought goats and some iron sheets for his house.

President Museveni supported him with sh10m to buy one acre of land and more goats, plus sh6m to buy a motorcycle to transport his goods.

He also gave sh10m to the other 10 farmers who converged at Mukasa’s home. This is just one example of the extra support which successful beneficiaries and model farmers reaped during the tour.

However, there is a concern that model farmers in Busoga aren’t competitive like those seen in Bunyoro or Sheema, for example. They tend to operate on a smaller scale and this means that they may not attract big support. The people of Busoga should embrace the President’s message on wealth creation more and catch up with those who embraced it starting in the 1960s. Leaders should continue identifying progressive farmers for special consideration.

The leaders themselves should be at the forefront as model farmers. They should be exemplary. If we did an audit, how many are implementing the President’s guidance on commercial agriculture?

On top of additional support to hardworking farmers, the President, wherever he has been, has supported organised groups such as those of journalists whom he gave sh100m and a minibus in each of the 18 zones of the country. This was the same case in Busoga.

In Busoga, he also supported masters of ceremonies (MCs), and bodaboda who will get theirs when they form their SACCOS and streamline their leadership.

Again, it is an open appeal to other Basoga engaged in production and processing to organise themselves and request for support under the different interventions being implemented.

I have learnt that Busoga is failing to absorb sh11b allocated to the sub-region under the Generating Growth Opportunities and Productivity for Women Enterprises (GROW).

Only about sh1.5b has been disbursed, and before we know, the money will be sent back to the centre. Leaders have work to do here to mobilise the people to utilise this money! People should leave sugarcane growing if they don’t have sizeable land and engage in intensive agriculture and processing.

On the side, Busoga recently got international standard ferries at Bukungu and Namayingo as part of the infrastructural transformation to ease transportation and commerce.

Large mineral deposits have been discovered and people should prepare to harness the opportunities arising assured of peace and continuity.

On the NRM secretary general, Rt Hon. Richard Todwong’s appraisals of the party, I was with the President in the west. The appraisal was done there as it was done in Busoga, and elsewhere.

This is an appropriate procedure to track the way the party is faring. It is also a jolt to remind leaders and members to work harder to keep the party on top.

Any reprimand, or whatever one would call it, is meant as an in-house call to reawaken party structures to be vibrant and competitive as we head into general elections.

I wouldn’t readily reveal the NRM’s strategy, but I know that NRM exists from the grassroots all the way to the top. In all 12 districts and Jinja city, the party has structures that are deeper and broader than those of other parties. And a lot is going on in terms of mobilisation and planning. More remains to be done, and the assessment should start at the grassroots, not at the centre. Busoga and NRM are inseparable, and the President’s heart will always remain in Busoga where he started his revolutionary struggles against Amin in the FRONASA times.

The writer is a special assistant to H.E the President of Uganda — press and mobilisation/ deputy press secretary faruk.kirunda@statehouse.go.ug 0776980486/0783990861