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'I will die for you', Minister Kabyanga tells Museveni
President Museveni interacts with Gen Wilson Mbadi (3rd R), Godfrey Kabbyanga (C) and other political leaders during Mbadi and Kabbyanga's thanksgiving celebrations in Kasese on December 7, 2024. PHOTO/PPU
What you need to know:
- Mr Museveni who has been in power since 1986 advised residents to shift their mindset, utilize their land more effectively, and focus on improving household income and the need for strategies that would enhance their social and economic transformation.
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has urged the people of Kasese to reconsider growing cotton and maize with proper calculations, warning that the practice may not be economically beneficial, given that the cost of production often surpasses the income earned after harvest.
"A year has two seasons, and if one harvests about Shs1 million per season, this amounts to Shs2 million annually. However, this figure excludes the expenses incurred during planting. Would you consider yourself a winner in such a situation?" he questioned.
According to him, smallholder farmers should desist from growing crops like maize and cotton which require large chunks of land to be profitable.
President Museveni waves to the crowd as he arrives at Kaguta grounds in Nyakatonzi, Kasese district to attend the thanksgiving celebrations for Gen Wilson Mbadi and Godfrey Kabbyanga on December 7.
Mr Museveni who has been in power since 1986 advised residents to shift their mindset, utilize their land more effectively, and focus on improving household income and the need for strategies that would enhance their social and economic transformation.
The President made the remarks on Saturday during a joint thanksgiving ceremony for Gen Wilson Mbasu Mbadi, the Minister of State for Trade, and Mr Godfrey Baluku Kabyanga, the Minister of State for ICT and National Guidance, at Kaguta Grounds in Nyakatonzi, Kasese District.
"The first device is on income-generatingexc projects for steady progress at the household level, utilize the little land you have, and then apply “ekibaro” (calculation]. The problem with the people of Kasese is one; you have failed to listen to the advice we have given to you! And again you still have time to deeply sleep which is an enemy to development,”
He said wealth can be created through the four sectors of the economy which include commercial agriculture, Manufacturing/Industries, services and ICT.
“As you create wealth, do it with ekibaro (calculation). Some people don't have ekibaro and this contributes to poverty in a home,” he said.
Mr Museveni, 80, further cautioned the people of Kasese against politics of identity-based on tribes and religion.
“A person who preaches politics of identity based on religion and tribe is your enemy and they are greedy. A person who is not selfish works with everyone irrespective of their tribe and religion to support his or her prosperity,” he expounded
The president reminded the people who had gathered of the key pillars of economic development, including peacekeeping, wealth creation, and overall development. He emphasized that peacekeeping involves the efforts of security forces such as the UPDF and UPF, as well as the community's commitment to unity and rejecting divisionism and ethnic segregation.
President Museveni flags off the rehabilitation of Kikorongo-Bwera-Mpondwe road in Kasese district on December 7, 2024. Looking on are Dott Services officials and political leaders, including Gen Wilson Mbadi. PHOTO/PPU
He also commissioned rehabilitation of a 38.2km road from Kikorongo to Mpondwe to join the Mpondwe Beni road in Congo which is under construction to ease trade between Uganda and DR Congo.
The construction of the road by Dott service Ltd is expected to commence come February 2025.
Mr Kabyanga thanked President Museveni for appointing him a minister, saying he would canvass for him votes.
“The only gift I can give you, Your Excellency, is to say thank you. If it was not for you, I wouldn't have become a minister…. Your excellency, you rang me at 5am and told me that you would appoint me minister. I thought it was Angell Gabriel. The phone went off abruptly and I thought it was a wrong number. I didn’t believe the message. I waited on TV until 2pm when I heard you say you had appointed me minister…..I am going to die for you, your excellency. I am going to look for you votes until the basket is full,” Mr Kabyanga said.
He told the president that he and other NRM leaders in the district are senstising the masses to join the money economy given that most of the ordinary folks in Kasese are suffering from poverty due to lack of income generating activities.
“We are mobilizing them to embrace the four-acre model and we are leading by example. Gen Mbadi and have started demonstration farms to tell people what to do and other leaders are doing the same,” he said.
