President Yoweri Museveni has warned youths against taking part in acts of violence, saying they are only causing problems for themselves.
The NRM presidential candidate said when youths turn to rioting; they scare away investors who would have come to create jobs for them.
“Through liberalization of the economy and returning of Asian properties, we attracted many foreigners to start businesses here. The more we attract factories to be set up here is the more the number of jobs created. In order to do that, we must maintain peace so that we don’t frighten these people,”Museveni told NRM leaders at Madibira primary school in Busia Municipality.
“When you say you are a youth and causing trouble because you don’t have a job, you are acting against your own interests. The people who could have helped us create jobs are now not going to come.”
Museveni explained that government has been able to attract several investors who have started factories in various towns and cities around the country which he said are as a result of the peace enjoyed in the country.
The President explained that when the NRM government captured power in 1986, they made it easy to do business in Uganda; a move he said has greatly paid off.
“Sukuru, Mbale, Jinja, Mukono, Namanve, Kapeeka, Matugga, factories are many and these belong to foreigners and the magnet that attracted them here is the peace we brought. However, if you(youths) bring violence, we will end up being like these countries in the Arab world that caused confusion and up to now , even the little they had collapsed,” Museveni warned.
According to Museveni, it should not appear as if government has no answer to the problem of jobs but noted that the various industrial parks throughout the country will be a solution.
“If we can create 5000 jobs in Mbale industrial park with 16 factories in a short time, why can’t we create more jobs with more factories,” he said.
The President however implored the NRM leaders to help preach this message of “hope” to Ugandans so they can clearly understand where the country is heading.
Youth and women programs
The President told the youths and women in Busia that government has so far given out shs600 million to 109 projects benefitting 1354 women in Busia district since 2016 whereas a total of 177 projects worth shs1.4 billion have been funded to benefit 2150 youths.
He noted that youth industrial hubs are being set up by State House in every sub-region to help training the youths in various skills like carpentry, welding, mechanics, shoemaking, tailoring, knitting and weaving among others.
According to President Museveni, the various groups can also benefit from the Emyooga fund targeting people in 18 clusters formed under saccos at the constituency level.
Museveni also commissioned the Bumbobi-Lwakhakha Road that stretches through Mbale, Manafwa and Namisindwa district starting at Bumbobi outside Mbale City through Bubulo-Busumbu up to Lwakhakha on the Uganda-Kenya border and providing an international route to Kenya.
President Museveni also commissioned the shs25.4 billion Busia main market which will employ 2400 vendors.
The modern multi-billion market also has 1261 facilities including stalls, lockups, pitches, cooking lockups, restaurants, fish marketing zone,fresh fish stalls with ice boxes, bulk fresh fishing auctioning centre, banking facilities, daycare centre, butchery, clinic, chicken cages, chicken preparation area and main hall.
The Busia main market is also fitted with both firefighting and solar systems and its construction was funded by the African Development Bank.
The facility is part of the Markets and Agricultural Trade Improvement Program phase II (MATIP-2).