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I don’t want to see people in poverty- Museveni 

President Museveni and other NRM party leaders inspect Ms Tolofisa Buwala’s farm at Karamira village, Namutumba Town Council in Namutumba District on January 22, 2025. PHOTO/ TAUSI NAKATO

What you need to know:

  • The first Deputy Prime Minister, Ms Rebecca Kadaga told Mr Museveni that some parishes are bigger with larger number of residents but they get the same share of money as smaller ones.
  • President Museveni will conclude the PDM monitoring tour on Saturday in Iganga Municipality. 

President Museveni has urged Ugandans to interest themselves in government development programmes and projects intended to fight poverty and bridge income inequality which he claims to hate.

 “After 1986, I introduced Bona Bagawala, Ntandikwa, Naads, Emyooga and finally PDM to make all people rich because I don’t want to see people in poverty. All these are intended to make people rich,’’ Mr Museveni who has been in power for nearly four decades said during the launch of the four-day Parish Development Model (PDM) monitoring trip at Karamira Village in Namutumba District, Busoga Sub Region.

Mr Museveni, 80, wondered why some people in Busoga remain poor as others prosper given his government’s numerous poverty alleviation programmes over the years.
Made up of over 10 districts and flung in the eastern part of the country, Busoga is one of the poorest sub regions with poor or low economic activities coupled with high crime rate.


Mr Museveni told the gathering at home of an elderly peasant couple Mr Christopher Samanya and Ms Tolofisa Buwala, that he started mobilizing Ugandans to join the wealth creation crusade in 1966 when he was still a student amidst opposition from the then leaders who allegedly believed that it is impossible to pull ordinary citizens from poverty.

“1986, I went to the little known Balalo people who were being despised by most people due to their work as herdsmen and started teaching them how to get out of poverty because I wanted them to be on the same level with others. Some people labelled me a communist because I was struggling for everyone to become rich,’’ he said to the gathering with most of the attendees donning the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party colours. 

Mr Museveni revealed that in 1995, his government started extending wealth creation programmes to villages so that he contains poverty.
But 30 years later, Mr Museveni expressed frustration that some Ugandans are still stuck in poverty. 
In his speech, the president who came to power by the barrel of a gun after a five-year guerilla warfare attributed the challenge to tribalism and abuse of the poverty alleviation programmes.

It is partly because of the poor performance of the government programmes that Mr Museveni argues he had to seek the intervention of the army.
He lauded Mr Samanya and Ms Buwala, who are residents of Karamira Village for using the Shs1 million PDM cash to buy an exotic cow which is helping them generate income.
The couple told the President that they topped up Shs250,000 on the Shs1 million to buy the Friesian cow which is currently giving them about 10 bottles of milk daily of which the two are used for their  consumption and eight sold. 

Mr Museveni gave the couple Shs30 million cash to buy a motorcycle, two other cows and an acre-piece of land in Namutumba Town Council. 
The president also gave Shs10 million to 10 other farmers who turned up at the home of the couple to welcome him before he proceeded to see two other farmers in Luuka and Jinja districts.


The first Deputy Prime Minister, Ms Rebecca Kadaga told Mr Museveni that some parishes are bigger with larger number of residents but they get the same share of money as smaller ones.
“Your excellency, you need to consider creating new parishes so that people in big parishes can benefit from the PDM programme equally like those in small parishes since money is allocated to parishes regardless of their sizes ,’’ Ms Kadaga said. 
The state Minister for lands Housing and Urban Development, Ms Persis Namuganza noted that Busoga can get out of the biting poverty if the residents get involved in PDM.

“The national assessment of PDM performance in the country indicated that Namutumba district was the number one performer. Therefore, there is nothing that can stop people from becoming rich,’’ Ms Namuganza said. 
She, however, reminded the president that there is still low electricity coverage in the district currently estimated at 28 percent, poor road network and safe water coverage which he needs to address.
The Third Deputy Prime Minister, Ms Rukia Isanga Nakadama, asked community members to stop politicizing the PDM programme which is largely perceives as a reward for supporting NRM.
“People should get out of the perception that PDM is for their political reward in appreciation for the votes. They should know that government introduced it to move them to another level economically,’ she said.

President Museveni will conclude the PDM monitoring tour on Saturday in Iganga Municipality. 
Opposition politicians claim Mr Museveni is using PDM tours to hold early campaigns ahead of 2026 presidential poll.