President Yoweri Museveni, who is also the National Chairman of the National Resistance Movement, has closed the week long retreat of the National Resistance Movement Parliamentary Caucus that has been taking place at the National Leadership Institute in Kyankwanzi District.

Speaking during the closing ceremony that took place this afternoon at Ngoma Government Ranch in Nakaseke District, President Museveni assured the NRM Parliamentary Caucus that the Party and the country will reap from their wise decision to endorse him to continue to lead both the Party and the country beyond 2021. He assured them that Uganda was set for transformation under the National Resistance Movement leadership under his stewardship. 

Mr. Museveni called for support from all Movement leaders in the struggle against household poverty that he said was the biggest challenge the country was faced with

“Let us work together to uproot poverty out of Uganda. I want your support as a Caucus in Parliament in approving budgetary allocations to poverty eradication programs,” he said.

He also implored them to be agents of change in their own areas in the fight against poverty. “Go out and spread poverty eradication messages and be examples. The people will follow you and it will ease your work as a leader instead of attempting to solve all problems of your constituents, which is not feasible. Once the population is economically empowered, your work as a leader will be made simple,” he said.

The NRM Chairman further appealed to the NRM legislators to sensitise the population about the danger posed by the continued fragmentation of land on account of poor inheritance rites that he said pose a great danger to the future of agriculture which is the main source of income, food and employment to the majority of Ugandans.

He equally asked them to sensitize the masses on better and modern farming methods such as zero-grazing and the use of fertilizers that would better the agricultural output of farmers and promote good land usage. He commended the people of Nakaseke District for adhering to the NRM campaign in the dairy sector and the resultant commercialisation of milk that has brought about transformation in the area.

The Vice President, Mr. Edward Kiwanuka Sekandi, commended the National Resistance Movement Parliamentary Caucus for endorsing President Museveni to continue leading the Movement and the country. He said age was merely a number and only worked to help enrich one’s wisdom and said that Ugandans needed to tap into the wisdom and experience of President Museveni to develop Uganda into a modern first world country.

At the conclusion of the retreat, the NRM Caucus passed and adopted a number of social, economic, political and administrative resolutions that the will be forwarded to the National Executive Conference and later to the Delegates Conference for discussion and adoption. 

Before the closing of the Retreat, President Museveni led the legislators on the tour of Ngoma Government Farm in Nakaseke District after walking a distance of about 7 kilometres from Kyankwanzi District to neighbouring Nakaseke District. 

During the tour, the President shared with MPs the memories and experiences of the liberation war of the 1980s that brought the NRM into power in 1986.

“We used to move between these two districts across River Mayanja using canoe boats. Now the government has built a bridge across the river linking the two areas with murrum roads to ease means of transport for the communities around,” he said

The President told the legislators that the 4-acre Ngoma Government ranch was purchased in 1993 and currently is stocked with 800 herds of cattle and goats.

During the walk, the President sensitized  residents of Ngoma Trading Centre on cattle keeping, modern methods of farming, stressing the need for paddocking, planting pasture to sustain animals during the dry seasons.ENDS