Amos Rhembuss grazing his goats and sheep
HABARI DAILY I Kampala, Uganda I Thousands of Karimojong are now at peace with themselves. They have shunned guns, which were prompting them to garner wealth by raiding.
The message that they will never amass wealth through stealing other people’s property seem to have sunk in.
“First of all, you may lose your life but secondly the cows and goats you steal will die because you remember when we had corona, we said don’t move, stay at home, when you move you will get infected. When you move with the cows, they get diseases,” President Museveni told the attentive Karimojong during his tour of the Karamoja sub region.
He further revealed how through his wealth creation message in the 1960s, managed to transform the lives of the people of Ankole and now they are living a prosperous life.
“I’m a cattle keeper myself and the Banyankore were like you. They were nomadic and running around, but in the 1960s, we campaigned among them to settle down and to do food security and commercial agriculture, they are now very rich. People who go there can tell you that,” he noted.
Museveni visits Amudat farmer, Amos Rhembuss
Museveni advised them to curse the guns completely, saying that nobody should take guns to them, so that you have total peace.
The President assured the people of Amudat that the government will continue empowering them to fight poverty and improve their livelihoods through different programs like the PDM.
“We now send you Sh100 million every year per parish where each household gets shs1 million each. That means in five years you will get sh500 million for your parish. After 24 months, the one who got the Shs1 million first starts bringing it back. If a parish has 1,200 homes for instance, within 6 years we would have covered everybody.”
He was excited by the news that the population of the Pokot people had increased.
Karimojong on a dancing spree
“Apart from peace, we introduced immunization and that alone has helped your population to grow and we have not added other things like nutrition, hygiene and safe water. If you do all those, you will be able to do away with illnesses,” he said.
The President urged the people of Amudat to focus on income-generating activities like livestock farming, crop cultivation, and other ventures supported by the four-acre model.
He gave Shs5 million to Amos Rhembuss, a resident of Jumbe village in Amudat to grow his enterprise more.
Rhembuss, expressed gratitude to the government of Uganda under the wise leadership of President Museveni for putting up the Parish Development Model (PDM) project that has enormously befitted the people of Amudat, him inclusive.
Peace-loving Karimojong
“When I received the Shs1 million, I bought four sheep and two goats. I now have five goats and 11 sheep from the animals I bought. I now feel that my home is now heading to prosperity. I decided to settle, I don’t want these things of raiding because I may end up losing my life,” he added.
Peter Lokeris, the Minister for Karamoja, admitted initial doubts about the program’s success but expressed gratitude for the significant impact it has had on communities, including Amudat.
