PDP’s Bwanika promises to double teachers’ pay

Peoples Development Party presidential candidate Abed Bwanika has said he plans to raise teachers’ salaries ahead of the launch of his manifesto on Friday.
Addressing a rally at Mityana Taxi Park on the third day of his campaigns on Saturday, Dr Bwanika said he has the best manifesto.

At Busimbi County headquarters, he promised to raise primary teachers’ salaries from the current Shs200,000 to Shs500,000 as well as upgrading their skills to a minimum level of a Bachelor of Education degree.

“My goal is to build a knowledge-based economy anchored on quality education and this can’t be achieved when teachers earn peanuts. And apart from this (Shs300,000) increment, a performance based bonus will follow,” he said.

Dr Bwanika also promised to roll out a school feeding programme for all government schools and a national schools security policy to ensure students’ safety.

According to Mr Kawuma Degaulle, the head of Elect Dr Bwanika Taskforce, the manifesto launch will take place in Kampala.

On agriculture
On agriculture, he said all farmers will be adequately supported to produce better yields and government will buy their produce. “Today we have a distorted budget in which State House gets more resources than agriculture which is the backbone of the economy. My government will change this state of affairs and bring a smile on your faces of farmers,” Dr Bwanika said.

He said all hospitals across the country will be well stocked with medicine of all ailments. However, he said this vision cannot be achieved without the support of majority Ugandans who face unprecedented poverty.

Dr Bwanika, who has been in the central region, will shift his campaigns to the east today.