President Museveni has urged the people of Lango to focus on wealth creation as a way of ensuring prosperity for everyone.
Speaking during a rally at Amolatar Secondary School playgrounds on Wednesday, Museveni said whereas asking for infrastructure like roads is okay, focusing on wealth creation in crucial.
“Development in form of roads, hospitals and schools is good because these are things which benefit all of us. This is very good but it is also dangerous for leaders who don’t understand. Some of the leaders speak about dongolobo(development) but forget wealth,” Museveni said.
“Development is ours but wealth is mine(individually). But at night you don’t sleep on the road. You go back to the house and find all the poverty you left in the house and it welcomes you back saying it is still there. You will find children have no clothes and staying in a bad house. That why NRM says don’t just speak only development and forget wealth. Wealth is yours but development is ours. Wealth is for you as an individual or family but development is for us all. This is where the problem has been.”
Museveni said it is high time all Ugandans got involved in wealth creation through agriculture, factories and provision of services among other sectors.
“At independence only 9% of homesteads were in the money economy and the rest were working for their stomach or subsistence production. That is where the problem is. You can get food but without money. I cant stand here and tell people tarmac roads and don’t talk about poverty. Even if you do tarmac road it will be for rich people to drive and enjoy. Yes, the poor people might find it easier to move by public means but will remain poor. I am appealing to Ugandans; chase poverty and government has already given you how to start through PDM money.”
Museveni said government has previously worked on the Rwenkunyu-Masindi Port and Apac to Lira roads ,noting that plans are in the pipeline to have the ones from Dokolo to Amolatar and the Teso-Acero-Amolatar tarmacked.
He said many other roads will be worked upon but insisted that the issue of wealth creation is key.
“Some of the roads have been done and others will be done. There are schools, health centres and everyone now has a phone in their pocket. All those are dongolobo(development) They are things which benefit all of us. You need to focus on creating wealth.”
Speaking during the same rally, the NRM Vice Chairman for Northern Uganda , Hamson Obua said Lango has every reason to protect what it has gained in the last 39 years of NRM.
"As Northern Uganda, we have fundamental peace. By the time Northern Uganda was not peaceful you(Museveni) left state house in Entebbe to camp here and fought LRA, Lakwena and cattle rustlers. That is the first gain we will protect," Obua said.
He mentioned development that has been achieved in the area, citing infrastructure in form of hospitals, roads, Lira University, Akii Bua Stadium and many others.