By Andrew Irumba
Bundibugyo: The fountain of honour his excellence Yoweri Kaguta Museveni on Sunday wound up his cross-country Operation Wealth Creation tours in Rwenzori region, where he warned locals against eating apes and other primates.
Museveni has been conducting a country-wide campaign against poverty for three months, during which he was advising Ugandans in various districts on how to fight poverty in their homesteads.
He concluded the countrywide sensitisation campaign on wealth and job creation with a public rally in Bundibugyo District, Rwenzori Sub-Region in Western Uganda. During the rally held at Kasubba Sub-County Headquarters, Museveni urged locals to kick out poverty from their homes by embracing a money economy that suits modern-day lifestyles, instead of sticking to traditional means of survival like hunting for wildlife and fruits. The President also warned people to desist from eating apes’ flesh because it is the root cause of the Ebola outbreak in the area.
“To curb further spread of Ebola, he added, people should avoid handshake till the disease is eradicated”, he said.
“You have greatly advanced in agricultural development; growing coffee, cocoa, palm oil trees to sustain economic development of your families,” he said.
The President urged communities throughout his just concluded tour that his aim was fighting for the poor who for long have lived in economic darkness because of lack of leaders to mobilize them to wake up and work to banish poverty.
He used the occasion to advise residents in the district to construct residential housing structures out of bricks not mud and wattle though the houses are roofed with corrugated iron sheets.
He also thanked them for the tremendous support for the NRM governance by their overwhelming vote in the 2016 general elections.
“I have come here to thank you for voting well. I commend you people of Bundibungyo for you are focused politically. Your mature and responsible voting has made the area peaceful contrary to the neighbouring DRC.”
He encouraged the communities that in addition to growing high productivity crops along the four-acre plan that includes coffee, fruits, dairy cows, poultry, piggery they should at the same time expand vanilla cultivation because the product has gained global market demand.
