Prime
Eastern MPs make demands to Museveni at Kyankwanzi
New Members of Parliament take part in warm-up drills during the retreat at the National Leadership Institute in Kyankwanzi District on April 15. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- Bugisu legislators asked government to prioritise support for landslide victims.
President Museveni has continued to separately meet and pledge support to the newly elected Members of Parliament from National Resistance Movement (NRM) party from different regions.
The latest closed-door meeting was with the lawmakers from eastern and western regions held on Thursday and Friday respectively.
Some of the legislators from Eastern Uganda, who attended the meeting, said the President welcomed suggestions and proposals raised by the MPs to remedy some of the challenges that plague their constituencies.
“He was very receptive and promised to find time to allocate resources and further meet us at constituency level so that he can best understand our challenges,” a source, who requested anonymity, told this publication.
Lawmakers from Bugisu Sub-region led by Bulambuli Woman MP-elect Irene Nafuna Muloni demanded that ‘special attention’ be accorded to the landslide prone areas around the slopes of Mt Elgon.
The MPs requested government to create a resource envelope to support landslide victims and also build evacuation camps to refugee points in case another landslide hits the community again.
“We asked that very specific attention be given to the issue of landslides because they greatly affect our people. So we should not act like they only happened once,” a source said on condition of anonymity.
The source added: “We proposed that government finds money to be given to affected families that are willing to re-locate so that they move to places of their own preference.”
The Bugisu legislators also requested for a science-based university in the region.
“We want Mt Elgon Technical Institute to be turned into a university of science,” Mr John Musila, the Bubulo East county MP-elect, said.
Among the cross-cutting issues raised in the meetings was the need to scale up budget allocations made to the district leadership through local government, boost resources within hospitals for better service delivery and improve infrastructure.
“We reminded him [President Museveni] about the need to expedite the development of the Teriet High-Altitude Training Centre [in Kapchorwa] so that talent can be utilised,” Mr Fadil Twalla, the Tengei County MP-elect, said.
Mr Kisos Chemaswet, the Soy County MP-elect, said: “We want him to resolve the conflict between Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and the locals. Our people are roughly handled by security officers while they graze their animals.”
Legislators from Bukedi and Busoga sub-regions demanded that issues raised by fishing communities especially around Lake Victoria be resolved.
The President also held meetings with legislators from Western Uganda although this publication had not ascertained details of the said meeting by press time.
The meetings come as newly elected MPs from NRM continue their three-week retreat at the National Leadership Institute in Kyankwanzi District.
