President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has called upon the local people to come out and report the corrupt government officials who are messing up the Parish Development Model (PDM) which is intended to elevate them from subsistence to money economy.
“The corrupt people will have problems, they will pay. Fearing to expose those means you are working with them. Recently I was in Gulu District where I got some culprits, and my State House Anti-Corruption Unit is going for all of them,” Gen. Museveni stressed.
He sounded the warning while addressing leaders in Arua as he began his tour on investment and wealth creation in West Nile on Tuesday April 11, 2023 under the theme: “Securing your future through wealth creation and shared prosperity.”
The meeting was attended by among others; the Vice President Major (Rtd) Jessica Alupo Epel, Ministers especially those hailing from West Nile, Dr..Joyce Moriku Kaducu (State Minister for Primary Education), Evelyn Anite (State Minister for Finance), Dr. Chris Baryomunsi (Minister for ICT and National Guidance), Ruth Nankabirwa (Minister for Energy and Mineral Development) among others.
President Museveni wants all Ugandans to play their part in wealth creation, if Uganda is to achieve collective development and prosperity.
He says this will come to pass through among other means practicing modern commercial and calculated agriculture to fight poverty at household level.
The President revealed that while the money economy has grown from four percent in 1969 to 68 percent currently, there is still a lot to be done. He called upon every Ugandan to join the money economy.
“For economy we don’t need spectators, we need all people to be players. Seeing some people spectating while others are making money, that’s not acceptable,” Museveni said.
According to President Museveni, Uganda has achieved the minimum economic recovery by reviving items like the 3 Cs-coffee, cotton, copper and the 3 Ts-Tea, Tourism and Tobacco which had collapsed during Uganda’s political troubles of the 1950’s.
He said by 1986 when the National Resistance Movement (NRM) came into government, he was fully aware of this problem that the money economy had collapsed and they embarked on the minimum economic recovery by reviving the 3Ts and 3Cs.
“And within a short time, as I speak today, cotton has come back, tea production has come up, we are now producing around 12m bags of coffee up from 9m bags recently. So, the minimum economic recovery has been achieved,” the President noted, adding that the economy has expanded with the addition of other products like milk, beef, soap, sugar, fish, fruits, steel and maize which was not a cash crop by 1971.
He said economic Infrastructure development such as; roads, railway, piped water, internet etc, to facilitate wealth creation are also being worked on and promised to address the problem of intermittent power supply in west Nile.
“We have got a lot of power, but the problem is distribution. I have been handling this problem for a long time. The demand for electricity is picking up and with these industrial parks coming up, we shall need more electricity,” Museveni further noted.
He expressed optimism in the parish development model which is aimed at getting people out of poverty through enterprises that have a global demand to uplift the remaining 38% of Ugandans still in subsistence to a money economy.
“All the people above 18 and want to join wealth creation should join the parish SACCO. For us we shall bring you sh100m each year to your SACCO and each year we need 100 families to benefit. The point is that in 4-years’ time, you parish people will have your own bank of sh400m,” the President said.