It’s sin to live with poor, Museveni tells pastors
President Museveni (left) interacts with pastors after a meeting at State House in Entebbe on February 3, 2021. PHOTO/ PPU
What you need to know:
- The President said the struggle to liberate about 68 per cent of peasants lies with all stakeholders
President Museveni has asked pastors to join his government in the fight against poverty.
Pastors across the country and women leaders were meeting the President at State House Entebbe on Wednesday to congratulate him upon his re-election and discuss issues of wealth and health.
President Museveni won the 2021 General Election with 58 per cent.
His closest opponent Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, fetched 35 per cent of the votes cast.
“Go back and analyse your villages/communities to find out how many homes are involved in the money economy. This is the biggest war you can help us as a Church. I regard it as a sin to live with poor people,” he said.
Mr Museveni also appealed to the pastors and other church leaders to join government efforts in promoting wealth and health of citizens.
The President said the struggle to liberate about 68 per cent of peasants lies with all stakeholders.
“If all people wake up and get involved in production, where are we going to sell all these products because the internal market is small? That is why the NRM says think about Uganda and think about Africa for a wider market,” Mr Museveni said.
Pr Robert Kayanja of Miracle Centre Cathedral, who led the delegation of Born Again Pentecostal Church leaders, presented a joint statement agreeing with wealth creation.
Pastor Kayanja lauded government on education.
“The unemployment of our youth is a good problem. It reveals the success of government efforts of liberalising education, as such, we have a more literate society now than 35 years ago,” he said.
President Museveni urged the clergy and other leaders to embrace the four NRM principles, including patriotism, pan-Africanism, social economic transformation and democracy.
He appealed to them to focus on social and economic transformation of communities to improve household incomes and alleviate poverty.
Uganda is among the poorest nations in the world despite reducing its poverty rate.
In 1993, 56.4 per cent of the population was below the national poverty line. A 2016 Development Initiatives, based on poverty headcount data from the World Bank indicates that Uganda’s national poverty line is at 21.4 per cent.
