Museveni inspecting a farmer in Kabale over the weekend.

President Yoweri Museveni has encouraged farmers in the country, who are engaged in crop production, to instill in their minds the culture and practice of growing crops all year around using any improvised means of irrigation scheme to combat drought spells.

“The science of pumping water from a water source to a reservoir at a higher altitude, then pump it to the farm and irrigate the crops with help of solar powered water pump is the way forward for Uganda,” he said.

He observed that once the system is installed, it only requires more solar panels to increase the capacity for extension use to more users.

“The dry season is no longer a problem. Free water is available and people cry over drought season. The dry season is for those who are not enlightened and the uninformed. Even developed countries, which receive minimal level of rain level, have their agricultural practice on irrigation,” he added.

The President was today commissioning a solar water pumping irrigation system at Kyerero village, Nyamihanda Parish near Muhanga Township in Bukinda, Rubanda county, in Kabale district. The system was installed on the farm of Mr. Charles Kwehangaana Rutaro following the President’s pledge in 2010. Farmer Kwehangaana Rutaro grows apples, a variety of passion fruits and other crops on a two-acre piece of land. The enterprise earns him Shs.43 million per year.

The purpose of the installation was to demonstrate applications of solar water pumping as an economical and sustainable option for irrigated agricultural production.

While inspecting the project, President Museveni said that the purpose of his visit to the farm was to assess the effectiveness of solar water pumping irrigation scheme. He, therefore, tasked the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, former NAADS and the Ministry of Water and Environment, to install in the districts of Kabale, Kiryandongo, Masindi, Kaberamaido, Soroti, Katakwi, Kumi, Mukono and Luuka solar water pumping irrigation schemes. He reiterated government’s commitment to distributing more solar water pumps to the people.

“What I wanted to prove was the science behind the cost of locally established irrigation scheme”, he said.

Museveni inspects a farm which uses irrigation in Kabale district.

Addressing rally following the tour, the President told the people of Rukiga County that a good leader is one who guides people to shift away from mass eradication of poverty through modern methods of farming with accountability in mind. He, however, strongly warned them against agricultural practices in wetlands.

He commended the people of Rukiga County for voting the Movement overwhelmingly during the 2016 Presidential, Parliamentary and council level elections saying that this symbolized massive politically uprooting of the opposition from the area.

The Prime Minister, Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda, the Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Hon. Vincent Ssempija, State Minister for Planning, Hon. David Bahati and State Minister for Labour, Employment and Industrial Relations and area MP, Hon. Herbert Kabafunzaki, accompanied the President.

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 We were in Katakwi by 4:00PM. On that usually dusty but these days muddy road because of the too much rain, electricity poles were being erected and wires put on so as to make these people vote wisely!

I don’t need to tell you that there is no electricity in Katakwi district. We moved around to map the area of operation, but wherever we passed, people run to the road even as late as mid night. I asked some of them that why did they do it, and I was told they expected NRM campaign money.

We saw the house of the former MP Oleny and that of education Minister Jessica Alupo, and we wondered if they reside in those houses because of the money we know they have in Kampala. I realised that this is intended to hoodwink the peasants in Usuk not to aspire for bigger political things. I want to tell you that the poverty here is more than any poverty I have seen anywhere but the district has three ministers: Alupo of Education, Echweru of Disaster and Gen. Jeje Odong for Defense.

The LC III Chairperson of Usuk who is an FDC man lives in a grass roofed house!! The Electoral Commission presiding officer at Atupoon Polling Station was wearing ”nigina” (poor shoes) so when they saw us in gumboots, they saw us as coming from Mars!!

We slept in the grass thatched house of one of the candidates in the race, Richard Ekure where we saw big political comrades from Kampala sleeping on the floor sharing mattresses without blankets in a rainy and cold night. In that place where we were Mps Alice Alaso,   Maj. Gen. Mugisha Muntu, Kasese district woman MP Winnie Kiiza,  Geoffrey Ekanya, Hassan Fungaroo, among others slept in other places. Sadly, at night many of our vehicle’s tires were pierced with nails.

Ends

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Suspected NRM goons armed with sticks, stones and pistols on Wednesday morning overrun all the 12 polling stations in Ongongoja Sub county in Usuk County in Katakwi District, and chased away all agents of opposition candidates and hijacked the voting process.

Therefore the voting in Usuk County turned chaotic bringing the parliamentary by election exercise to near a halt. The opposition candidates in Usuk led by FDC’s Okure Charles petitioned the police and the Electoral Commission asking for voting in Ongonja, to be halted.

The youth who described themselves as NRM supporters and vigilantes mounted roadblocks and started deflating tires of cars carrying opposition supporters and cadres. Among the cars whose tyres were deflated included that of Terego MP, Kasiano Wadri. There was also fist fighting between NRM supporters and opposition supporters and in the process several people were injured. Katakwi returning officer Joseph Omona confirmed the chaos but he said the voting is going on as scheduled. But the question is: is it time to drop all pretences of democracy in Uganda?

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The secretary of Katakwi district education performance improvement committee Joseph Patrick Amadia Omugeto says there many children who have failed to return home for their 1^st term holidays because they fear to fall victim of Karamajong attacks.

Amadoi observed that most school children have returned in their relative homes to take refuge until security has normalized.

Amadoi appealed the government to deploy more troops to the district to curb the Karamajong threats.

The Uganda People’s Defence Forces has been carrying out a disarmament exercise in Karamoja but some pockets of insecurity still persist in the region.

By Mugisa Isaac Mathias

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