KAMPALA, Uganda - President Yoweri Museveni has described as selfish Opposition politicians who have failed to sensitise people against poverty.
“Leaders who claim to be in the opposition can see what our people are going through and should be able to empower them with the knowledge to get them out of poverty, instead, they say they are waiting for the government in power to leave. This is selfish,” the president said.
The President made the statement in one of the country's district, Kasese during his country-wide wealth creation tour.
While meeting leaders in Kasese District on Thursday, at Nyakasanga Playground in Kasese Municipality Museveni said, “there is no opposition or government in poverty.”
“A serious person does not mix politics with the livelihood of the people, all leaders irrespective of their political inclination should go back to the people and awaken them to kick poverty out of their homes,” he said.
Daily Monitor recalled that in 2000, the president set up the Presidential Initiative on Poverty and Hunger under the Poverty Alleviation Department (PAD) in State House as a clearing house for his pledges.
In 2003, the department was mandated to develop wealth creation models. The department designed more than 12 initiatives aimed at increasing productivity and value addition.
Despite annual multi-billion anti-poverty interventions like Operation Wealth Creation, has continued to rise in Uganda.
Figures from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics indicated that the national poverty level increased from 19.7 per cent in the financial year 2012/13 to 21.4 per cent in 2016/2017.
The figures were the final results of the Uganda National Household Survey 2016/17 that was carried out by UBOS.
The findings also show that poverty incidence remains higher in rural areas (31 per cent) compared to urban areas (15 per cent).
Rural areas contributed 86 per cent of the national poverty.
The figures put the total number of poor Ugandans who cannot afford three meals a day to eight million.
