President Museveni has hailed the new minister of state for relief, disaster preparedness and refugees, Lillian Aber for defying odds to become successful.
“I want to congratulate my granddaughter Lillian Aber for proving that being disadvantaged at birth is not a disability. Our children should not be surviving by luck like Lillian Aber, but I thank you for surviving. That is not the vision of the NRM. The NRM wants all children to survive through equal opportunities,” Museveni said.
The president was on Saturday speaking during Aber’s thanksgiving in Kitgum.
He explained that through various programs and affirmative action NRM gives opportunities to all Ugandans to have a fair share of the national cake irrespective of their background.
“Wherever you are, work hard and trust God. The NRM gives the opportunities and we do it deliberately,” he said.
“People don’t listen to what the NRM advises them, otherwise all the opportunities are there. You hear Parish Development Model (PDM) and Emyooga; this is money put by the NRM that could be used by the disadvantaged people to start from somewhere.”
President Museveni reiterated his call to leaders to focus on helping and mobilising Ugandans to create wealth through the right enterprise selection with calculation.
According to the president, there’s a big presence when it comes to issues of development, education, health and security in the country but there’s still a big gap when it comes to wealth creation, especially in the rural areas.
“When I was coming here today, I could see development in the form of roads, buildings, hotels, etc. That is good, but that development is managed by some groups, not all people. I want you to put the emphasis on the wealth creation of the people in rural areas,” he urged.
President Museveni added that in order to create wealth, Ugandans should embrace the government’s poverty alleviation programs such as Parish Development Model and Emyooga.
“In a parish you could handle 100 homesteads in a year and remember after 24 months, the one who took the money could have paid back. It is not money for the government but for the parish SACCO. We are creating a parish bank for you and the interest is very small, only 10 percent after 2 years,” he said.
“Go to your parish and find out how many homesteads have received the money. We rejected the cheap politics of giving Shs100,000 to each person, instead we give Shs1m to a homestead through PDM. And if we see that the speed is not enough, we shall go back and discuss, then, increase to Shs200m each year. Therefore, the debate here should not be I did not receive but did somebody in your parish receive that money properly. This is what the MPs and other leaders should monitor, then we can judge whether we should put in more money or not.”
