Kakumiro District NRM Chairperson and Minister, Fred Byamukama, has said the socio-economic gains registered in the district are a result of leaders taking President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni’s wealth creation message seriously and leading by example.
Byamukama said the progress being witnessed must be protected because it is grounded in practical action rather than rhetoric.
“With all these achievements, these are the gains we must protect,” he said. “The President has always told us about wealth creation, and I listened to his message and decided to start myself.”
He said leaders cannot credibly mobilise communities without first demonstrating what they preach. “You cannot tell people to put on shoes when you are putting on slippers,” Byamukama said. “You cannot tell someone to rear a goat when you don’t even have a goat or a rope at home to tie one.”
Byamukama revealed that he personally implemented the four-acre agricultural model championed by President Museveni. “I started the four-acre model myself, and it is doing very well,” he said. “I am earning good money, and I have been teaching my people how to do it.”
According to Byamukama, the model has been widely embraced beyond Kakumiro. “The people of Kakumiro have copied from me,” he said. “The people of Greater Kibale have copied, and even the people of Bunyoro have copied.”
He noted that the impact of wealth creation through agriculture is now clearly visible in the region. “That is why it is very hard these days to find a grass-thatched house,” Byamukama said. “People have got money through agriculture.”
He added that the agricultural transformation has also created employment opportunities. “Many people have got jobs on people’s farms, including my own,” he said.
Byamukama said President Museveni’s wealth creation strategy, when supported and implemented at local level, has significantly improved household incomes. “The idea of the President on wealth creation, supported by me and other leaders, has been emulated by the people,” he said. “Families have developed, household incomes have increased, and I feel proud of that.”
He stressed that the next step is to consolidate these gains by ensuring access to markets. “That is why we must protect what we have achieved,” Byamukama said. “Now we are working to secure markets so that those who are producing know where to sell their products.”
