If you can’t see NRM achievements, you are blind- Museveni as he woos Acholi

President Museveni has said the ruling NRM government has had immense achievements in the past 35 years that one can’t go without noticing.

“NRM has done its work well. Talk about it proudly. We had shortages of sugar, soap, beer, sodas, cement and all other essential goods. Today we are talking of surplus of all those and our problem is marketing them. How can you say NRM has done nothing when shops are full of products?(manufactured here),”Museveni said on Monday as he met NRM leaders in Acholi sub-region in Gulu city.

He explained that NRM achievements can further be felt by the number of goods and products sold to the neighboring countries, a sign he said shows that Uganda has taken big steps forward in terms of development.

“To know NRM has done well, look at when South Sudan became independent before they started fighting. Juba was full of Ugandans and Ugandan goods. In fact, a senior South Sudan person told me Ugandan products had dominated their market more than Kenyan goods. This shows NRM has scored good achievements,” the NRM presidential candidate noted.

He explained that a number of jobs have been created, not necessarily in the public sector but rather the private sector in form of industries that have sprouted out in various parts of the country for the benefit of the citizens and government through taxes.

Museveni said currently, there is nothing government can’t do but noted there is still a big problem of corruption by government officials that he said should be reported by the NRM leaders.

“Uganda has been able to recover and grow because of the thinking of NRM. However, you should find out what happens to money that comes here. Youth MPs, MPs for the disabled, women and workers MPs are your delegates who need to keep an eye on the money. You should demand they dont allow money eaten on the way,” he said.

Leaders make demands

The leaders from Acholi also made some demands that they said ought to be worked on by government in the next five years.

“There is need to have reliable electricity in Gulu city. Currently, the electricity is always on and off and affects many people’s businesses,” said Pabbo quarters LCI chairman, Thomas Opira.

The Omoro District Woman Member of Parliament, Catherine Lamwaka said whereas there are key achievements in the region, government needs to work on the remaining few areas.

“We are very hopeful that the President will in this term focus so much on economic empowerment of the women so that they are able to cause the most needed transformation.

We are happy with the women fund but it needs to be increased because it is not enough,”Lamwaka said.

She also mentioned the issue of value addition to help farmers realize more incomes but also other infrastructure which is yet to be completed including the Omoro- Moroto road.

“The young people need to be supported to get jobs. I am happy with the initiative of skilling young people but our institutions are doing it at lower level. They train a person for three or six months and they acquire a certificate. We are hopeful the institutions will be upgraded to award diplomas and degrees,” she noted.

Campaigns

Museveni who is carrying out what has been termed as scientific campaigns where he meets NRM leaders who in turn canvass votes, will on Tuesday head to Kitgum to finalise his tour in Acholi sub-region.

In the 2016 general elections, Museveni got   40% of the total votes in Acholi sub-region but in Gulu , the capital of the sub-region, a district he has never won in,  his poor performance continued as he got only 31391 votes which represented 32.74% of the total votes.

With the acquisition of the city status and the resultant infrastructural development that has happened in Gulu, the incumbent hopes to have his votes increase.