KAMULI – Presidential candidate Henry Tumukunde has promised to help the people of Busoga region do away with dependency on sugarcane growing by providing alternative sources of income to the people.
Tumukunde said that sugarcane growing is laborious yet it pays less to the farmers in terms of return on investment save for the sugar factory owners.
“So hidden in the sugar factor is you do so much labour and those who harvest money are completely different. But that’s not the bigger issue,” he said.
He added that, “The bigger issue is that we should provide solutions to the Basoga,other options of survival and not necessarily being over dependant on sugar after all sugar is now going to the different parts of Uganda,it is a commodity consumed however dangerous it is but we still think that where else sugar is like Kamuli,Kayunga among others still there are other options especially to do with food.”
Tumukunde explained that sugarcane growing alone has failed to get the people of Busoga out of poverty and there is need for an alternative to foster speed household income generation on top of food growing for feeding families.
“Now if all you eat is because sugar cane is at the right price and in busoga,there’s that risk that if prices have been affected then everything necessarily suffers,” said Tumukunde.
According to Tumukunde, Busoga has a good number of voters that can make them vote the right people into power.
“2.3million voters, why don’t they use them to negotiate, you know,for example I asked them to vote me as I can see they are very excited about me. Vote me then I know I’m President because of them,” he said.
“Busoga has the third highest person in the country Rebecca Kadaga, Secretary General of NRM Kasule Lumumba is from here. I don’t see anything on the ground that Busoga is benefiting from the leadership of NRM,”said the Lt Gen.
He said Busoga will with no doubt vote for opposition.
“And then without wasting time, I’m sure they’ll vote me.”
