By KT Reporter
he NRM Presidential Candidate, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, says he plans to create budget lines for the benefit of fishermen, religious leaders, and university graduates across the country.
Museveni, in his campaign rally in Pakwach district, said the new funds are intended to improve the welfare of those groups.
He said, funds to the religious leaders will be sent according to their parishes and structures, but not for the ordinary Christians at the district level, because poverty is deep-rooted in homes, not in towns.
“We shall add another 15 million shillings per parish, and this will cater for local leaders like LC III, Councilors, and others, but funds for fishermen must be different because what fishermen need are different from PDM, and their packages are also different,” Museveni said.
Museveni’s promise to the fishermen was in response to a demand by the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) that the government should compensate fishermen who have lost their gear and lives during Fisheries Protection Unit (FPU) operations.
The FDC Party Deputy President in charge of Northern Uganda, Hassan Kaps Fungaroo had indicated that FPU operations against the immature fish and the use of illegal fishing gears is intended to disable the fishing communities and render them jobless. He was against the idea of giving money to fishermen as credit or loans.
“I totally disagree with the president because you can’t give loans to someone who lost his properties in an operation commanded or initiated by the government, it would sound best if the government says, we shall bail out fishermen who lost their properties in an operation mounted in water bodies by the Fisheries Protection Unit (FPU),”Fungeroo said.
A voter based in Pakwach, Adong Roseline, suggested that the president should give direct cash to fishermen who lost their properties in Jonam, Pakwach district.
“Fishermen are currently poor because they are jobless, giving money to pay back, where will they get their money if they fail to pay back?” Adong asked.
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