President Yoweri Museveni has strongly urged the youth in Uganda to encourage their parents to abandon subsistence farming in favour of commercial agriculture for effective eradication of household poverty in the country
The President made the call this morning while closing a 4-day National Catholic Youth Convention 2014 at Namugongo Martyrs’ Shrine in Wakiso district.
The convention that started on the 11th December 2014 and was hosted by Kampala Archdiocese attracted over 2,500 youth from all Catholic Dioceses in Uganda and ran under the theme “Blessed are the Poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”
The youth, who attended the Convention at Nsambya Sharing Hall, discussed various topics affecting their life which included among others, wealth, health, life skills and catechism.
President Museveni was guiding the youth on sectors that they can get themselves involved in for the generation of income and added that other sectors include agriculture, industry, services, Information and Telecommunications Technology (ICT) and Public Service but whose job slots are very limited.
He, therefore, called on the youth to help their parents in enterprise selection according to the land holding that must be accompanied with proper and accurate calculations in order to realize better returns. He also advised the youth to get skills that are marketable and cited the Nursing profession as one of them.
The President, who called on the youth to lead exemplary life, also urged them and their parents to properly utilize the new programme that has been designed by government whereby the Army is being used to distribute planting and breeding materials to all farmers in Uganda so that wananchi are put on course to engage in commercial agriculture with a view to combating household poverty.
Regarding the new sector of ICT, the President urged the Catholic Church to set up a Business Processing Outsourcing Centre that can provide the youth with employment opportunities. He was very delighted at the invitation by Archbishop Dr. Cyprian Kizito Lwanga to close the youth convention saying it was the right choice as he himself started his activities at a tender age of 20 years old.
President Museveni had earlier unveiled a plaque for the re-development of the Namugongo Uganda Martyrs’ Shrine and pledged government’s support in the implementation of the project.
“I am very happy that the church has launched the development of Namugongo. Government has been using church land for a long time without paying for it. I am going to verify and if it is true, you are going to get a lot of money," he said.
The President also pledged to improve the road from Kireka Trading Centre to Namugongo to enable pilgrims and tourists travel comfortably to the Uganda Martyrs’ shrine. He contributed Shs.20 million to the youth Savings and Credit Co-operative Organization (SACCO).
Kampala Archbishop, Most Rev. Dr. Cyprian Kizito Lwanga, thanked President Museveni for his pledges.
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