Besigye promises fees for university

Nov 15, 2010

DR. Kizza Besigye has promised to give a uniform amount of fees to all students admitted to public universities if he is elected president.

By Conan Businge
and Luke Kagiri


DR. Kizza Besigye has promised to give a uniform amount of fees to all students admitted to public universities if he is elected president.

The new scheme would replace the scholarship scheme, in which about 4,000 students out of several thousands of other students admitted to public universities get their full tuition fees paid.

This would mean that whoever is admitted to a public university gets some financial support from the Government.

“This will help all university students, including those from humble backgrounds, to have part of the tuition paid by the Government, even though they are not among the best in the country,” Besigye told his supporters at a rally in Kiboga town on Saturday.

He added that he would also start a students’ loan scheme.

“This will relieve the parents the burden of paying fees for their children at the university,” he noted.

Besigye had earlier said the current university scholarships were not fairly allocated, since children from humble backgrounds always fail to go to good schools and cannot get good grades.
Besigye said improving the quality of education was one of his major priorities.

He also said he would boost the agricultural sector by re-instating trade unions, opening up national food stores, establishing irrigation schemes across the country and initiating a farmers’ bank.

Besigye said the bank would provide farmers with soft loans to invest in their farming activities.

“Farmers can as well use some of their produce as security to access loans from this bank,” Besigye said to the applause of hundreds of his supporters.

He said the country needed to have food stores, where farmers can sell their products at reasonable prices.

“Farmers will always be updated on the prices at which the Government will be buying their produce before the planting season,” he added.
Bsigye also promised to modernise the agricultural sector.

“In 1960’s, we were using tractors hired from sub-county headquarters. We can still do this in a new government,” he added.

Meanwhile, Besigye’s campaign convoy got stuck in Kakinga swamp in Kakinga village in the newly-created Kyankwanzi district on Saturday. It took 30 minutes for the vehicles to go through the pot-holed and flooded part of the road.

Besigye promised to reduce the charges levied on hydro-electric power, in addition to improving rural electrification.

He also pledged to build more houses for teachers, the Police and the army.

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