KAMPALA – As January 14th nears, President Yoweri Museveni has launched a campaign calling upon the Ghetto people to support the ruling National Resistance Movement party in the upcoming general elections.
The campaign dubbed ‘Wanika Ekigalo owone Yala’ is an initiative of the president to rekindle his relationship with the Ghetto people by tackling their needs and alleviating them from poverty
Launching the campaign, Museveni shared that his history with the ghetto people is a rich one as he started working with them in 1968 while he was a student at the university.
“Even though I was not from the ghetto, I went there to work with the low income earners. We used to call them the ‘Bawejjere’ and they were headed by the Sabawejjere Abas Kibazo. I worked with them and they joined our movement when we were still at the university,” he shares.
The NRM presidential flag bearer explained that when Amin came, the Ghetto people helped him (Museveni) a lot because even though he (Amin) was trying to use Islamic faith, the FRONASA Muslims at the time had his back and they always drove him from Tanzania to come and fight Idd Amin.
“I appointed Rt Hon Amama Mbabazi to be in charge of them in 1974. There has however been some misunderstanding because some elites do not know how to collaborate with the low income earners. I have now taken charge and I have collaborated with my children from the Ghetto like Buchaman, Fullfigure among others and we are going to work together to uplift the status of the ghetto,” he said.
Mzee Tibuhaburwa shared that what the Ghetto people need is studying and he wants their children to study for free and that is why he started UPE in 1996 but the leaders the Ghetto people have been sending to parliament have been hampering his development plans.
He said that however, this time round, all his NRM people have decided that they will support his method of all children studying for free and streamlining the sharing of money for development.
“NRM government has enough money but the problem is with the apportioning. We have now agreed with the NRM people that in this coming term, they are not going to bother me in the apportioning and they are going to go by my suggestions of prioritising some things like the youth SACCOS, Emyooga, Operation Wealth Creation among other avenues that help the low income earners to get capital that has low interest rates.”
