Museveni tells Luwero residents to create wealth to cure poverty
The Principal of Bukalasa Agricultural College, Gelvan Kisolo Lule informed the President that the commissioned state-of-the-art infrastructure has not only benefited students but also farmers and groups from within and outside Luwero district to acquire agricultural skills.
President Yoweri Museveni has urged the people of Luwero to engage in wealth-creation activities such as commercial agriculture in order to fight poverty and increase their household incomes.
The president says this has been the consistent message of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) for the last 60 years.
“The NRM for the last 60 years has been advising you to seek first homestead income and the rest will be added unto you. If you don’t get that message, you just waste a lot of time,” Museveni said.
Gen. Museveni who was accompanied by the First Lady, Janet Museveni made the remarks while addressing the gathering at Bukalasa Agricultural College shortly after commissioning their new modern infrastructure that are meant to kickstart the process of transforming the college as a centre of excellence in agricultural training.
The commissioned facilities include among others; Milk and Food processing house, zero grazing unit, broiler and layer unit, piggery unit, agro-processing unit, a calf pen, a demonstration unit, laboratories, classrooms, library and ICT laboratory block. These were constructed at the cost of $11 million equivalent to approximately Uganda shillings 40 billion.
This investment has not only uplifted Bukalasa Agricultural College as a centre of excellence but also as an institution that can generate income to sustain itself according to Ms Ketty Lamaro, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES).
President Museveni told the people of Luwero that whereas the government has improved the infrastructure like roads, hospitals and other social services, it makes no sense to be proud when the people using them are poor.
“Even if we make the roads, it will not take away the poverty in your home. A tarmac road will pass by your home and you will remain poor,” Gen Museveni said, giving an example of the people in Ngoma subcounty, Luwero district who despite having poor infrastructure, they listened to his message of wealth creation and transformed from keeping cows and producing milk for home consumption but also for the market.
“People in Kampala have the best roads but the poor people are so many. I started teaching these things to people 60 years ago. I used to teach them that the antidote for poverty is wealth, and it can move hand in hand with development as long as you are able to differentiate between the two and what benefits all of us. For example, the road belongs to us all; the hospital is for all of us but the wealth is mine alone or for us as a family,” he noted.
“In all what we do, we should desist from being diverted and get to know that the medicine for poverty in wealth. Development just makes it easy for you to create wealth but even without development like in Ngoma, you can create wealth as you follow our teachings. They have challenges of development, but their homestead incomes are steady.”
The President also appreciated Bukalasa Agricultural College for championing Science-led agricultural production for crops and animal products and urged Ugandans to use these agricultural institutions for more knowledge in areas of; Livestock and crop production, Animal feed growing and processing, Value addition to the products and for specialized Training and skilling of the young people.
