President calls for budget cuts to finance oil roads
President Museveni has attacked government officials for wasting taxpayers’ money on endless trips abroad and ordered Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda to immediately devise means to end such “unnecessary expenses.”
Museveni made the comments yesterday at Masindi Sports grounds, where he officiated at celebrations to mark the 31st anniversary of the ascent to power by the National Resistance Army/Movement (NRA/M).
“Government people, ‘stop travelling abroad, I don’t like travelling outside unless I have to.’ These people love travelling all over the place and that takes money. Those who are travelling outside should be controlled so that we save money and concentrate on these roads,” the president, who led the NRM through a five-year guerrilla war that culminated in the capture of power in 1986, said.
The 72-year-old leader also revealed plans to reduce the budgets of all sectors by 10 per cent in the next financial year in order to enable government construct more roads to support the oil sector.
According to Museveni, although his government’s infrastructure development plan is on track, there is need to do more. He said his government would do all within its powers to achieve that.
ATTACK ON VETERANS
Museveni also attacked veterans of the NRA/M war who always remind people that it’s them that liberated Uganda. He observed that although they fought to free the country from repressive regimes, they should not turn it into a song since they could not have made it without support from majority of Ugandans.
“Veterans don’t have enough numbers to give the president of Uganda six million votes. Yes, you fought but if these people had not welcomed you, you wouldn’t have sustained what we did. So, be very careful about that song. Don’t be opportunistic and exclude people that, ‘We fought; Where were you?’” said Museveni.
“I want everybody to know that all those who contributed either before or after, they are all freedom fighters. We fought for something and people loved it. All that embraced it are our people,” he added.
The president noted that education and health were on the government’s priority list. He said that efforts to have a primary school plus secondary school per parish and sub-county respectively were underway. He added that government would continue striving to have a health centre III at every sub-county.
Further, Museveni called on local leaders to audit their residents with the aim of identifying which families are engaged in commercial and food production. He argued that this will ensure food security and more families will get involved in commercial agriculture through Operation Wealth Creation (OWC).
Commenting on small- scale manufacturers in urban areas, the president noted that government would keep supporting them through Saccos. He observed that some imports like juice and textiles can be manufactured locally if emphasis is placed on promoting small-scale manufacturers.
NRM JOURNAL
President Museveni also launched the NRM party’s newspaper, which he said is aimed at promoting its agenda. Unveiling the newspaper, which is called Public Lens, Museveni said it will provide a medium for the NRM to speak directly to the public.
The NRM deputy secretary general, Richard Todwong, said the Public Lens would help document the party’s achievements as per the manifesto pledges.
“The Public Lens will help the party to communicate facts and document the achievements of the NRM government,” he said.
The newspaper will be published monthly.
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