President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni on Tuesday met the National Resistance Movement (NRM) youth leaders from Buganda sub-region under their movement – Buganda For Museveni (BM7) led by Ms. Hellen Seku.
The discussions held at State House Entebbe, focused on opportunities for the NRM party in Buganda and challenges that need urgent attention to further strengthen the party’s support in the sub-region.
The challenges ranged from the multiple taxes on traders who are low-income earners, bad roads, poor implementation of the Parish Development Model (PDM), Emyooga and other government poverty alleviation programs for the youth and women.
The issue of coffee where 2,500 farmers in Masaka lost their coffee seedlings was also discussed.
It should be noted that last month, the coffee nursery operators and the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) were at war over the UCDA operations in Masaka City where coffee seedlings worth millions were destroyed after being sprayed with chemicals, an operation purportedly aimed at weeding out wrong seedlings that affect farmers according to UCDA.
The Youth leaders informed President Museveni that the affected coffee nursery operators are demanding compensation on grounds that the operation was not done in good faith and that the act demoralized those popularizing the cash crop in the region.
President Museveni urged the youth to get actively involved in the Parish Development Model which he said has come to eliminate middlemen in purchasing agricultural supplies.
“We had been buying coffee seedlings under NAADS but now I started hearing that my army people under Operation Wealth Creation were unfair in distribution. There were also complaints about overpricing supplies and distributing poor quality agricultural supplies. We decided to put the money in the PDM where farmers would directly buy for themselves to eliminate middlemen,” the President said.
He vowed to deal with those messing up the PDM, the same way he did in Acholi sub-region and tasked Resident District Commissioners and security personnel at all levels to strengthen monitoring of government programs.
About multiple taxes imposed on the poor, the President informed the youth to provide evidence through a report so that those involved in overcharging the poor are dealt with. He said the government abolished the unfair multiple taxes to enable low-income earners to grow their household incomes which in turn will increase their purchasing power and pay through consumer tax.
“This is a strategy to develop our country through attracting more taxes. By interfering with this, they’re keeping many people outside the money economy who would have got some income, buy more from factories and pay taxes in a better way,” H.E Museveni noted.
About the infrastructure, the President reaffirmed the government’s commitment to improve the road network and revealed that a new contractor will soon start work on Masaka-Mutukula road.
At the same function, President Museveni launched the Buganda For Museveni (BM7) Movement who endorsed him as their NRM Presidential candidate for the 2026 elections.
The meeting was also attended by the Kampala Resident City Commissioner (RCC), Ms. Aminah Lukanga, the Presidential Advisor on Greater Masaka Region Affairs, Ms. Justine Nameere and other Youth leaders from the districts in Buganda sub-region.
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