news story

JOSEPH EIGU ONYANGO
1/5/2008.


“Govt. will not beg Kony to come out of bush” – Museveni
President Yoweri Museveni has clarified that his government will not beg Joseph Kony to come out of the bush.
“If he wants to come, let him come. If not, it will be too bad for him”, he said.
The President was addressing political leaders at Arua Public School on Monday 28th April during his 3-day tour of the West Nile Region to visit farmers and address political rallies to drum up the people to embrace the Prosperity for All (Bonna Bagaggawale) programme. Mr. Museveni assured Ugandans that nobody can mess up the prevailing peace.
“Kony fled to Congo because he had been defeated”, he said, adding that “recently 100 ADF rebels attacked Uganda but 80 of them were promptly eliminated and the survivors learnt that Uganda has changed.”
He told that meeting that “even the warriors of Karamoja have learnt that there is a government in Kampala. They have been court martialled and are surrendering their guns.”
The President told his audience that the NRM wanted to transform Uganda into a modern state but had been diverted by the Sudanese government which sponsored armed groups, like LRA, to overthrow the young NRM government or intimidate its leaders.
“They discovered that we were not the usual black Africans. If you create problems for us, we create more problems for you.”
President Museveni urged the leaders to support and participate in the Prosperity for All programme. “You should be the last peasants in your families. We should not produce more peasants”, Mr. Museveni said.
He said that the objective of Prosperity for All is to transform the peasants into the middle class. He explained that government has done its role by investing in infrastructure, such as schools, roads and hospitals.
However, the President noted, these have not changed the lives of the peasants. He said that the government has introduced UPE and USE to ensure that all the children access free education both at primary and secondary levels.
The President also said that government introduced immunization for all and noted that this has helped to reduce infant mortality rate. “What has remained is AIDS” which he described as a voluntarily acquired disease.
He warned head teachers to stop levying fees, including lunch, in UPE and USE schools. He cautioned head maters that they must restrict themselves to the role and assignments of government and leave parents to play theirs.
Mr. Museveni told Arua leaders that poverty can be defeated if the people change their attitudes. He said that in order to overcome poverty, the people must know the size of their land, the most profitable enterprises and their families’ annual income and expenditure.
He disclosed that government has injected Shs.150 billion through NAADS and other agencies. He, however, assured that NAADS has been re-organised. He directed NAADS officials to choose 6 pioneers from each parish transparently. “Inform the people on radio, organize a meeting so that they choose those 6 people themselves who can learn quickly”, he said.
The President advised farmers that those with large tracts of land can invest in beef, maize and tobacco production. Those with little land, he added, should engage in fish, poultry and fruits.
He cautioned those who agitate for tarmac roads saying that the tarmac road from Karuma to Arua has not eliminated poverty.
On behalf of the leaders, State Minister for Finance Mr. Fred Omach enumerated a number of problems that affect development region. He thanked the President for government projects and said that the leaders in West Nile want their area to be recognized as a separate region from Northern region. He, on behalf of the leaders, pledged support to the government and assured the President of their unwavering support to the Prosperity for All programme.
The Minister reported that Arua needs Shs.60 billion to put in place the structures that will facilitate the Prosperity for All programme.