Africa-Press – Uganda. President Museveni has said in the forthcoming term, government is set to upgrade several roads in Serere to tarmac but also upgrade a number of health centres.
“We have the money already available for Kumi- Ngora-Serere- Kagwara road. They are getting the contractor to do it. What is crucial in government is to get the money. When it is there, the rest is easy. That road will be done. The road from Lira to Soroti to Serere will also be done. It is a shorter road,” Museveni said.
The NRM presidential candidate was on Monday afternoon addressing a campaign rally at the district headquarter grounds in Serere district in Teso sub-region.
The president said when the NRM came to power, the first item it put focus on was peace and stability which he said has given birth to development.
“I remember very well when raiders were coming up to here from Karamoja and how Lakwena came and disturbed you seriously but we defeated all of them. There is now peace in the whole of Uganda. This is the first time Uganda has peace in a long time,” he said.
Health centres
Museveni told the gathering that in Serere, two sub counties have health centre IVs and 10 have health centre IIIs, with only three sub counties not having any health facility but said government has a big plan for the district.
He said government is to construct health centre IIIs in Kidetok Town Council, Kadungulu, and Ocaapa Sub-Counties while the construction of a general and surgical ward at Serere Health centre IV is still ongoing.
“In the coming term, we are to upgrade one of the health centre IVs to a district hospital and upgrade Omagoro HCII in Kyere Sub-County to health centre III. We shall also construct new health centre IIIs in Kidetok Town Council, Kadungulu, and Ocaapa Sub-Counties.,” he said.
According to Museveni, government will work towards total eradication of Malaria and strengthen tracking of medicine in government health facilities as well as fighting of absenteeism of health workers.
Water, education
Museveni told the gathering that Serere currently has 98 government primary schools and 12 for secondary , adding that while the district has 70 parishes, 40 of them have at least one government primary schools and 30 are still lacking.
On the side of secondary schools, Museveni said with 15 sub-counties, 10 of these have at least one government secondary schools with only five still lacking any, adding that the district has two seed secondary schools which are undergoing construction and upon completion, only three sub-counties will be without any government secondary school.
“The plan is to have a government primary school per parish and a government secondary school per sub county.”
In terms of clean water, Museveni expressed delight that Serere has taken great strides, with 235 villages out of the 277 villages, making 85% having borehole water, leaving only 42 villages without a clean water source but said government has a plan for them.
In terms of urban water, the NRM presidential candidate said government has done comprehensive work on piped water systems including the Serere Town Council Piped Water supply and Sanitation Project piped water serving 25,967 people, Ocapa Town Water Supply and Sanitation Project serving 19,513 people, Kyere town Water Supply and Sanitation Project serving 29,897 people and Kasilo piped water system serving 4,025 people.
He said there is construction of a water system under construction in Agule Parish Parish, Kasilo Sub-county which is going on and that once completed, the system will serve both domestic and institution needs.
“Government plans developing and construction of Kidetok Town Council, Kadungulu and Mugarama RGC piped water supply and sanitation system,” he said.
Museveni also mentioned that government constructed the Ongor Small Scale Irrigation Project in Atira Sub-county, Opapa Irrigation Scheme in Kateta Sub-county serving 32 acres and Owiiny Valley Dam located in Bugondo Sub- County.
On electricity, he expressed delight that all sub county headquarters, except two in Serere have got electricity.
Wealth creation
However, Museveni didn’t finish his speech without reminding the population of their cardinal role to get out of poverty by engaging in wealth creation.
He said whereas he has been preaching this message since the early 1990s, many Ugandans have failed to implement it for their own benefit.
“This has been our message for long but you find people don’t attend to it. They focus on this and that but ignore our message of wealth creation,” Museveni said.
The president however expressed happiness that some people like Joseph Ijara, a former taxi driver from Serere had listened and implemented his wealth creation message.
“ Ijara is not in China or America but here in Serere. The wealth you see he has created is not anywhere else, but here. When he was a taxi driver in Serere 11 years ago, he heard my message and by then had 2.5 acres. He listened to my message of four acres that I started giving in 1995 while going around to tell people what to do to separate development from wealth creation. By just listening to my message, he started with poultry. He is now wealthy,” Museveni said.
He urged the population to make use of various funds like the Parish Development Model and Emyooga among others to create wealth for themselves.
Serere district has received shs21.5 billion under the Parish Development Model which has been disbursed to 21,512 beneficiary households out of the 70,581 households available.
The district has 54 Emyooga saccos with 7,027 members which have so far received shs2.8 billion.
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