Teso leaders lay 13  demands to Museveni

Elected leaders in Teso Sub-region have laid down 13 demands to President Museveni if he wants their vote in the January 14 elections.
In a memorandum presented to Mr Museveni at Soroti University in Soroti City on Saturday evening, the local leaders sought his commitment to solve the 13 problems facing Teso. Mr Museveni is seeking to extend his reign to 40 years.

“In order to win the upcoming elections and consolidate our position in the region, the people of Teso kindly make the following requests, in order of priority, with some not captured in the NRM Manifesto,” the memorandum reads in part.
Mr Museveni is in Teso for three days. He won the sub-region in the 2016 elections. 
Teso leaders on Saturday asked the President to compensate them for their  animals and human lives lost during the Karimojong cattle rustling and insurgencies in the sub-region. 

They want him to deliver the compensation before the end of his current term in May next year.
“Address expeditiously, the compensation of the people of Teso for the cattle, property and lives lost during the insurgency and cattle rustling, as per your presidential pledge and directive in 2011, supported by court consent judgement of November 4, 2014, and followed up by verification of claims by the government verification team in 2015,” the memo states.

Being cattle keepers, the people of Teso are demanding the revival of the animal breeding centre that was closed and moved to Tororo before being relocated to Lango.
They also demanded de-silting and expansion of 139 valley dams to facilitate fish farming and water harvesting and avoid grazing in waterlogged land.
They further demanded rehabilitation of five major roads in Mr Museveni’s next term and expansion of security roads on the Karamoja-Teso boundary to help monitoring of cattle rustling.

With the Soroti Fruit Factory up and running, there is a need to expand its capacity to absorb fruits from the neighbouring areas and also help farmers improve their produce by upgrading Arapai Agricultural College.
Through the Teso Affairs ministerial docket in the Office of the Prime Minister, the region is calling for annual allocation of Shs120b to improve livelihoods through organised groups.

The President, who commissioned a multibillion market in Soroti City yesterday, pledged to work on the demands by Teso leaders if he and other NRM flag bearers for parliamentary seats are elected.
Mr Museveni, however, said the problem is greed by elected leaders, especially MPs, who, instead of sharing the resources equally, spend it on their lavish emoluments and travels abroad.

“All these (demands) you are talking one word; equal distribution. Let us sit down with the MPs you will send me and we distribute. I have cooked food but according to the Constitution, I cannot distribute it alone. We may not do everything but if they (MPs) listen to my advice, the major things will be done,”  Mr Museveni said.
About cattle compensation, Mr Museveni said before the end of the current financial year, at least Shs150b will have been released. He said Lango, Acholi and Teso regions will each be compensated with Shs50b. 

Mr Museveni accused the Opposition of failing to tell the Ugandans about the socio-economic transformation, and peace and stability the country has achieved. 
“I feel embarrassed on behalf of the opposition because they don’t appreciate the facts. What is interesting some of them have been MPs and I have never heard them talk about equal distribution of resources? So let the flag bearers help me to explain this issue to our people,” he said.