Lands, Housing and Urban Development Minister Judith Nabakooba has asked the people of Bududa to foster their development by using the different government programmes of wealth creation at their disposal.
Nabakooba who was representing the Vice President, Jessica Alupo at the 37th Anniversary celebrations of the NRM victory in Bududa District on February 10 said the NRM victory of 1986 was arrived at after a lot of sacrifice and hard work from many heroes and heroines of this motherland.
She explained that because of patriotism and Pan Africanism, Uganda was liberated from the politics of identity to the politics of legitimate needs of the people.
“What people need is peace, consumer goods, health, development, education, wealth creation, markets for our products, etc. It is therefore on the basis of this transformation that I want to congratulate the people of Bududa and all Ugandans for doing a good job contributing to the social and economic transformation of our motherland.”
Nabakooba asked them to be clear about development and wealth creation saying these are the basis of social economic transformation.
“We are here in Bududa to remind you that improving our livelihoods must be everyone’s ultimate goal.”
According to the minister, NRM has put in place the necessary structures to ensure people access the money and resources for development and wealth creation.
“I know you must have heard about the Parish Development Model by now. I want to challenge you all to reach out to your leaders and challenge them to show you how to access the money at your parish level.”
She added: “In order to achieve the social economic transformation that we all deserve as a country, we need to move from our subsistence forms of agriculture to commercial. We must also say no to corruption.”
She called upon the communities, women and men of Bududa to be on the lookout for the Parish Development Model money and make sure they know what is happening and that it is not stolen by some officials.
The minister challenged the local leaders of Bududa to always stand for the people first saying it is because of this selflessness that NRM managed to liberate this country.
“I therefore challenge you to stay away from the politics of sectarianism, tribe or religion.”
In a bid to control the natural disasters of landslides, Nabakooba encouraged locals to always follow the advice of leaders.
“Let us plant trees and avoid human activity like farming and homesteads in the mountainous, hilly areas. The Prime Minister’s Office is working hard to ensure that there is no repeat or loss of life and property in these areas as we have been witnessing.”
She assured the locals of her ministry’s commitment to do work in the area that will foster and spur development.
“The Bududa Circular Road is one that has been given priority and earmarked for construction. Work will be starting soon.”
In his remarks, Mr Stephen N. Wakyaya, the District NRM Chairperson said Bududa has been a strong supporter of the NRM party since 1986 when NRA took power.
He explained that the people of Bududa were the first to be convinced to understand the NRM 10 point programme and they have supported the party since then.
“We have been loyal to the party and we have been voting for NRM up to date. When the multi-party system of governance penetrated our district under the National Unity Platform, we still remained the leading party in the district and we shall maintain this position,”he said.
Mr Wakyaya thanked the president for his tremendous achievements in Bududa and called on him to fulfil some of the unfulfilled presidential pledges in the area since 1986.
He pointed out tarmacking of Bubulo Bududa Circular Road (28.5km), review of the Mt Elgon National Park boundary, a pledge made in 1993 and the construction of a monument at Nametsi in memory of landslide victims who perished in 20210.
Wakyaya also shared that the president promised to procure a bus for Bumayoka Secondary School.