President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has now taken his nationwide wealth creation sensitisation drive to Bugisu sub region.
The President on Tuesday evening held an interactive session with over 1000 leaders from Bugisu.
The wealth sensitisation drive is an effort by the President to align national development with improvement of household incomes through commercialisation of agriculture.
The President has already toured Tooro, Sebei and Karamoja sub regions of Uganda.
He centred his message to the people of Bugisu around three aspects ; peace, development and wealth.
He emphasized the need for peace in development.
“It is this peace that has enabled the country undertake lots of development projects. From roads to schools, to dams, to hospitals to name but a few.”
The President elaborated Government’s success in road construction in the entire Bugisu.
“In Bugisu now, we are building the road from Mbale to Lwakhakha border which should open immense cross border oppurtunities. Also the road from Nabumali to Kachonga-Butaleja-Namutumba will be tarmacked, so will the Namagumba-Budadiri road. The Tororo-Mbale-Soroti-Dokolo-Lira-Kona Kamdini highway will be redone.”
The President urged the people of Bugisu to combine national development with improvement of household incomes through four ways that is; commercial agriculture, industries, services and ICT. He tasked leaders at every level to guide their people to discover which area to engage in.
He encouraged commercial agriculture through calculated farming. He discouraged people with limited land resources to shun cotton growing whose returns are only guaranteed when grown in large quantities.
The President provided an alternative in coffee growing where an acre could fetch up to 18M Ug Shs annually.
The president cautioned “Masabaland” against the dangerous habit of land fragmentation but encouraged them to jointly own land as a family and only share proceeds.
He pledged city status to Mbale Municipality.
He said, “you cannot talk of new cities in Uganda and omit Mbale and Masaka”.
The President concludes his tour of Bugisu sub region on Wednesday with a rally in Bulambuli District and an evening radio address.