President Yoweri Museveni, addressing the national liberation day celebrations at St John SS Wakitaka in Jinja city, has made a significant commitment to revive free education in Uganda. Expressing concern over high fees charged by some school authorities, Museveni emphasized the need to reinstate the Universal Primary Education (UPE) program. The president also addressed issues in the health sector and pledged road construction initiatives to enhance the socio-economic transformation of the region.
President Museveni voiced disappointment with government school authorities for undermining the 1996 program of free education, leading to school dropouts due to exorbitant fees. He called for collective efforts to revive UPE and USE, ensuring that the government becomes the parent for children whose families cannot afford school fees. A new campaign to reinstate these initiatives is expected in the next financial years.
Museveni acknowledged the need for well-constructed roads in Busoga, promising to address the potholes at the Nile bridge along Jinja-Kampala highway. He outlined plans for road construction projects, including the long-promised Budondo-Mbulamuti, Kamuli-Bukungu, and Iganga-Luuka-Kamuli roads. Museveni attributed delays in construction to underfunding and announced that, in the future, UPDF would undertake road and railway line projects.
The president decried corruption and drug theft in government health facilities, acknowledging that it has impacted the quality of the health system. Museveni highlighted the government’s efforts in fighting diseases like polio through immunizations and expressed determination to address corruption issues in the health sector. He urged citizens to embrace commercial agriculture and discouraged small-scale sugarcane, maize, and cotton cultivation.
Museveni called for Busoga citizens to embrace NRM ideologies and focus on commercial agriculture. He encouraged wetland vacation for fish farming to preserve water for irrigation. While praising Busoga children for their active participation in the liberation war, the president emphasized the importance of socio-economic transformation for the region.
