At Agule trading centre, supporters converged at Kevinah Amoit’s drinking joint as they waited for President Yoweri Museveni’s rally at Agule-Morokume Primary School.
With a baby strapped to her back, I found Amoit pouring millet brew into a pot nestled in the middle of a ring of men. A mother of 11 children, she speaks emotionally about the daily challenges she faces while trying to fend for her children.
“If I do not work hard, no one will cater for my children. Here, men do not work. It is upon us to look for money. When the President comes here, I expect him to say something about loans, especially how he will extend them to the women in Pallisa district,” Amoit, a resident of Agaro village said.
Some of the men and women at Amoit’s joint, pointed at the rising poverty levels, emphasising the need for small loans to fight poverty and the need to work on the road network in the district, especially repairing the Aleles bridge that links Pallisa to Teso sub-region.
“Government programmes such as NAADs are not reaching the intended people in the village. This laxity has increased poverty levels,” said Mary Akol, a resident of Morokume village in Agule county.
It was Museveni’s second day of campaigning in Bukedi sub-region. While in Agule, the presidential flag-bearer of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) started by explaining why the Government has delayed in repairing major district hospitals, revealing that emphasis had to be put on health centre IIIs.
Reason for delay
Arguing that health doesn’t start with hospitals, the NRM candidate said although some people have questioned the Government’s delay renovating district hospitals, 930 health centre IIIs have been built in various sub-counties in the country.
“The delay to renovate all these hospitals was because we were dealing with the frontlines,” he said, citing immunisation and the provision of free mosquito nets as major steps that the Government undertook to curb diseases.
Dr. Col. Kizza Besigye, the Forum for Democratic Change presidential flag-bearer recently came out to criticise Museveni for not repairing Abim Hospital in Karamoja sub-region. “Immunisation is the biggest support for health and it is done at the health centre III at the sub-county. We have built 930 new health centre IIIs. The plan is to stop you from getting sick,” he said, calling on voters to emulate his lifestyle by trying to avoid sickness. However, he pledged to repair Pallisa Hospital.
Pallisa district gets sh29b from the central government every year, a sum Museveni says has done some work, especially in the education sector. Museveni said that in 1961, the entire Bukedi region had three secondary schools, but today, there are 11 secondary schools in Pallisa district alone. Pallisa has 212 primary schools. Museveni’s pledge is to make sure that every parish in the country has a government primary school, every sub-county a secondary school and very constituency a technical school.
RDCs and the youth fund
The NRM candidate added that to combat poverty in districts and the country, his government will emphasise what he described as wanainchi funds, such as that for women, youth, operation wealth creation, microfinance and for innovation.
Under Operation Wealth Creation and the NAADS fund, Museveni pledged to put sh1 trillion, sh324b into the youth fund, sh324b into women fund and sh180b in the microfinance project, which mainly target village groups. Museveni said under microfinance, every village will get at least sh2m.
There are 60,000 villages in the country. The rest of the microfinance money will be for the educated people who want to start businesses. Museveni yesterday directed resident district commissioners (RDCs) to monitor the funds, especially that of the youth, so that they can weed out corruption.
“If somebody comes and says: ‘this is not yet done,’ please tell them that we know that some things are done today and others tomorrow. The future of Uganda is really good,” he said, emphasising what he describes as the NRM concept of prioritisation.
Asked whether injecting more money into the youth and women funds and directing RDCs to monitor the distribution of this money would help small businesses of women in Pallisa district such as Amoit, the district LC5 chairperson, Bantalib Issa Taligola, said: “The concepts are really good, but there are gaps which must be plugged urgently.
“The issue of value addition is really important and we must empower the people to achieve this. We need to revive co-operatives, so that farmers can have a better negotiating ground for prices of their products,” he said.
Former Inspector General of Police John Cossy Odomel said although the foundation for development has been made by the NRM government, the failure to explain programmes to the people in Pallisa is the missing link. “What people in Pallisa want is a sense of direction and re-organisation so that our people can be helped out of poverty,” he said.
Sh385b for roads On roads
Museveni said the Government has already secured sh385b to construct the Pallisa-Tirinyi-Kumi road under the Government partnership with the Islamic Development Bank. “The contractors have been pre-qualified. By the end of March, 2016 the contract will be signed and work will commence in April 2016,” he said, pledging to work on the Aleles bridge urgently.
The NRM candidate also said Sh39b had been secured to propel the compensation claims of the over 4,842 affected people to pave the way for the road construction.
On causing mayhem ahead of the 2016 general polls, Museveni said: “Nobody can disturb our peace,” which appealing to the people of Agule to vote NRM and the old man with a hat.
Museveni, who was given a stick and stool by the area elders, also pledged to grant the creation of Gogonyo sub-county. Among the elders who handed Museveni a stool and stick was Alfred Aporu, 76, from Otengia village.
Aporu, who is battling trachoma, was lucky to capture the eye of the President. “I am very happy that the President has directed his medical team to treat my eye,” he said.
On districts
In Butebo county, it was voter-candidate interface over the pledge of a district. Museveni, who had earlier campaigned in Kibale county, which used to be part of Butebo, but was carved out to form a constituency, said when he used to campaign in Butebo with his late friend, Dr. Steven Mallinga, the problem of lack electricity was visible.
“I am now happy to find electricity. That is now development. You are now left with the problem of chasing poverty from your homes, which we are going to solve,” he said during a rally at Butebo sub-county headquarters.
Yet to some voters, the most pressing in Butebo is the district status. Museveni explained to the demanding voters that he could not grant them a district status because the Government cannot over spend on administration at the expense of roads and electricity.
The NRM candidate clarified that contrary to media reports that he has granted districts during campaigns, the decision to roll out additional districts in 2017 was made by Parliament after a thorough conversation with all stakeholders.
However, voters in Butebo wanted Museveni to make a pronouncement that Butebo district shall commence starting yesterday. “I appeal to you to be calm. As bush fighters, we plan. We stopped the districts because new districts required a lot of administrative expenses. Are you going to sleep in district headquarters?. Uganda will not disappear if you don’t get Butebo district today. You will get Butebo district in 2017,” he said. “Vote NRM because NRM has brought you from far,” he said.
Museveni also received several defectors from opposition parties during the rallies. Today, Museveni will campaign in Tororo district.
