President Yoweri Museveni’s countywide performance assessment tour of the groundbreaking and popular flagship wealth creation strategy, the Parish Development Model (PDM) has attracted much public interest and discussion.
The tours started in Kibuku district in Bukedi, through Teso, Sebei, Karamoja and lastly in Bugisu. In the New Year, the President will embark on another leg in the remaining sub-regions. I thank leaders who have accompanied and received the President, and the PDM beneficiaries/model farmers that have made PDM a reality. I also thank the media for the coverage and the supportive members of the public.
While in Mbale city towards Christmas break, the President announced seed capital of Shs100milion for a category described as “ba nekolera gyaange”-prostitutes. This group was identified by Hajjati Hadijjah Namyalo Uzeiye, the Head of the Office of the National Chairman, Kyambogo, at the Bugisu Youth Symposium on December 20. The President asked how organised they were and he was assured that they have been mobilised appropriately.
No sooner had the President announced his offer than public commentary erupted, online and on ground. It was fiery on X, the chat and information sharing platform known for hosting a storm any time of the day;
Kyagulanyi Kabanda @omwavuatteguya stated:
“The same Museveni who has always advised young people to avoid umalaya is now empowering them financially, where did you’re morality go ,first this is an illegal trade in the laws of Uganda, why then do you use tax payers money to empower people engaged in illegal business??”
There were more such responses to my post in which I initially defended the President’s offer via my handle @kirunda_faruk as below:
“Those questioning the Shs100million which President Museveni extended to a group described as ba Neko- ‘prostitutes’- in Mbale on request of the leaders there, there is no contradiction or harm in H.E
@KagutaMuseveni’s gesture. This is a vulnerable group forced into this risky work due to economic hardship and peer pressure. They are in need of decent means to earn a livelihood. With this support, their dreams will come true. They will quit the illegal venture and join the open economy like other Ugandans being supported under PDM, Emyooga, YLP and UWEP. The kingdom of prosperity whose gospel President Museveni preaches is meant for such neglected categories of Ugandans. No one should frustrate or mock them”
The “dissenters” had interpreted the gesture as condoning and supporting sex workers in their trade which is illegal in the law books. But, except for cynicism and the ever-present specter of political discord, there is no way anybody expects the President to fund a criminal enterprise. On the contrary, the support is intended to free the “nekos” from entrapment in the risky work they do, a “job” that exposes them to disease, physical harm and being arrested, charged and jailed. By no means is it a pleasant source of livelihood. They are in it because of lack of choice and the active negligence of local leaders and other social groups that would understand their predicament and help.
President Museveni’s coming to Mbale was a golden opportunity. If they are mobilised well and they invest the money productively, they will not return to the streets and the vice will be progressively fought. Other urban centers where the vice is rife should follow the example in Mbale and get these mothers, aunties, sisters off the streets. Social worker groups should come in and offer an extra hand to provide psychosocial support to rehabilitate them.
It’s not the first time that such support is extended to vulnerable or “lawless” groups. Initiatives targeted at organised crime groups and ghetto dwellers are all aimed at rehabilitating them and giving them a chance at normal, lawful livelihoods.
On X, some commenters pointed this out well.
Katabs Andrew @andrewkatabs said:
“Are you reading my mind? Yesterday, I disagreed with my peers, arguing that the President’s donation to the prostitutes’ SACCO was to empower them economically to leave the vice. I believe most are in it due to circumstances, not choice”.
Simon Nakifuma @House_childers noted:
“Some Ugandans are just naturally jealous. H.E Gen. Yoweri Museveni is not only the President but a kind- hearted Father of the Nation who has fought to bring Ugandans out of poverty this is evident in all his wonderful Programs like PDM, Emyooga, NAADs , OWC and others.”
Therefore, if not for the habit of opposing anything and everything, or being judgmental and self-righteous, President Museveni was correct in making the donation after being requested for support for those that need it. Moreover, they are Ugandans, they pay tax! It’s not easy coming across a leader who is parental, compassionate and who doesn’t judge people or discriminate those considered as misfits or “unclean”.
I consider his action nearly equivalent to what Jesus Christ did when he received and forgave a woman who was about to be stoned by the Pharisees for a similar “crime” like the Mbale group. The encounter afforded the woman a new outlook to life and I don’t recall seeing any record showing that she had returned to her old ways.
Under a bad leader, the sex workers would be denied formal economic opportunities under the pretext of strict enforcement the law without looking at the causative factors of their situation. This would force them to go underground where they would engage in more weird activities including working with hardcore criminal gangs which would disturb everyone, including those judging and neglecting them. Now they have another chance and they should harness it for a secure future alongside other Ugandans who are waking up to the opportunities around them. I can predict that they may turn our more successful than the “moral police” mocking them today.
At the Symposium, the President emphasised the NRM’s commitment to capacity building, wealth, and job creation, and in all this, leaving no one behind!
The author is the Special Presidential Assistant-Press & Mobilisation/Deputy Spokesperson
Email: faruk.kirunda@statehouse.go.ug
0776980486/0783990861
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