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Army to take over Miss Uganda beauty contest
Gen Salim Saleh addresses UPDF officers during the passing out of soldiers who are going to monitor Naads projects at Makerere University in Kampala. PHOTO BY ABUBAKER LUBOWA .
What you need to know:
Strategic. The move is aimed at interesting more young people into agriculture.
Kampala.
The army will take over the Miss Uganda beauty contests in order to attract young people into the agricultural sector so as to solve problems of hunger and poverty among the youth in the country.
This was revealed by Gen Caleb Akandwanaho aka Salim Saleh, the presidential adviser on military matters.
“We are almost signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Miss Uganda Foundation because we want to choose the next Miss Uganda basing on agriculture and this is intended to interest the young people into the sector,” Gen Saleh said.
He made the statement on Tuesday while passing out 300 army officers who have completed agricultural production induction training at Makerere University as the Force prepares to takeover the Naads programme.
Naads, an agricultural programme that seeks to spur the sector growth had allegedly been mismanaged by civil servants which forced President Museveni to say he was going to deploy soldiers in every constituency across the country to take agriculture to a new level.
The President’s decision however, raised mixed reaction from the public with the Opposition members and opinion leaders accusing the President of politicising and militarising the agricultural sector
The State minister for Luweero Triangle, Ms Sarah Kataike, warned the officers against indulging themselves into corruption tendencies and appealed to them to remain non-partisan as they carry out their work countrywide.
“Such corruption tendencies would not only tarnish the name of the UPDF but also that of government in general,” Ms Kataike said.
Mr Okasai Opolot, the Director Crop Resources in the Ministry of Agriculture, said they plan to integrate police and prisons officers in agriculture to increase food production but also boost their incomes.
