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President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, met with leaders of SACCOs in slums of Kampala Metropolitan Area at State House, Entebbe.
The group includes 100 slum youth leaders who are also the heads of 12 slum SACCOs in Kampala, Wakiso and Mukono. The beneficiaries of the SACCOs are from: There are many different types of slums in the market. There are many different types of slums in the market.
During the meeting, the President highlighted the role played by slum people in Uganda’s liberation process.
“The slum dwellers you are talking about, used to be called ‘Abawejere’ in the 1950s, they lived mainly in Katwe. When Uganda was striving for independence, a lot of activity revolved around Katwe, I think the first office of the Uganda National Congress was in Katwe, people like Dr IK Musazi and Dr Barnabas Kunuka also worked there. Even Augustino Kamya who organised the boycott of Indian goods in 1958 was from Katwe,” the President said.
“I joined the ghetto in 1968. I was there and Katwe is my hometown. I am not a ghetto kid myself; I was born in a village with farmers. I was from there and wanted to go to university but we (student movement) wanted to join ‘Bawejere’. The head of abawejere at that time was Abbas Kibazo, they used to call him ‘Ssabawejere’, so I joined them. So, it is untrue to say that this was the first time I joined the ghetto,” he added.
President Museveni explained that when former President Idi Amin announced a coup on January 25, 1971, former students with the help of Abbawejere decided to fight him because they believed they could solve the people’s problems.
“We had and still have a plan to make the people prosperous and Idi Amin could not understand that. Of course, we had problems with Obote too, but at least we were able to talk to him. That is why we did not go down the path of fighting. On January 27, 1971, I left to fight Amin, so he ruled me for only two days. I left with two people from Kampala: Abbas Kibazo and Zubair Bakari, and when we went to Mbarara, the people there added two more chiefs. The five of us entered Tanzania, where we met Mwalimu Nyerere and that was the beginning of the fight with Idi Amin. During all the time we were fighting Idi Amin, I went to Kampala frequently and my contacts were mainly these Bawejer,” he said.
“In 1971, we also recruited Ahmed Seguya from Katwe. He was one of the 14 fighters I sent to Mozambique for training. In 1981, when we participated in the second battle against Obote, Ahmed Seguya was our first army commander, but he died of liver disease. Amin used to emphasize on identity politics based on religion, saying that he was fighting for Islam, but he did nothing for Muslims and others. During that time, when I came to Kampala, I used to stay with my Bawejer contacts, who were mainly Muslims.”
The President further assured the slum youths that the National Resistance Movement (NRM) government is pro-people, profit-oriented and works for all Ugandans.
President Museveni also called on ghetto youths to hold leaders accountable and demand their due.
The president believes that the problems of slum dwellers begin with the failure of the educated (elites) to address the problems of the uneducated, even though the uneducated have their own weaknesses, such as failing to hold their elected leaders accountable.
He said that in addition to government functionaries such as chiefs during the British colonial period, the National Resistance Movement government, after coming to power, decided to add leaders elected by the people to the Local Councils 1 to LC.5 (district level), including one female councillor in each district, to fill vacancies when government chiefs were unable to perform their duties.
“When we were preparing, I said, you people, in order to protect the people, we have to add another structure, these people should be elected by the people themselves so that the people’s representatives can monitor and hold the government accountable. That’s why we have local councils and members of parliament, elected by you. As people who hold power in your hands, why do you continue to elect useless people?” he wondered.
“But Wananchi people, including slum dwellers, will not use the weapons we give you against those who do not work for you. We give you guns to elect those who speak for you and bring them back if they do not speak for you. We stripped the executive of their monopoly on power and gave you the power to elect your own leaders to speak for you. They even engage in corruption and you do not investigate. Why don’t you find out? If we come up with a plan and you do not investigate, who do you blame?” he asked.
On the other hand, President Museveni asked the slum youths to uphold the interests of the masses such as free education for all, prosperity for all and accept the government’s poverty alleviation policies such as the Paris Development Model (PDM) to improve their lives.
“It is good that Ddamulira’s team is now in touch with you again, and then we will be able to guide you on how to defend the interests of the masses. This is your country and your homeland, you should defend it, and you should not participate in criminal activities such as illegal protests,” he said.
“In 1997, we started UPE, education for all in public schools, but the people you elected paralyzed the effort by constantly charging fees and other excuses, but you said nothing about it. Now act, we have sent all this money to PDM, Emyooga, and now we are adding other things, and this is just the beginning.”
In addition, the President warned slum youths not to be exploited by politicians with selfish motives to avoid turning to crime.
President Museveni also fulfilled his promise to provide Sh1.2 billion to 12 slum SACCOs (Sh100 million each) in Kampala Metropolitan Area, which he promised at a meeting at Independence Square in Kololo last year.
“You can do something for yourselves with this Sh100 million. In the rural areas, we encourage people to go into commercial farming. It is good that you have a base in the town where you have services like small businesses, crafts, salons and so on. These are the areas you should be involved in within your groups (constituencies),” the President told the youths.
Kampala, Minister of Capital and Metropolitan Affairs, Hajat Minsa Kabanda, thanked President Museveni for his support to the people of the slums, which shows that they are an integral part of Uganda and contribute to its development.
“These people were trained on how to run a SACCO and we are very sure that most of them have now converted. Those who have not yet converted will also be converted,” said Hajjat Kabanda.
The Director General of Crime Intelligence and Project Coordinator, Brigadier Christopher Damulira said the slum project was launched in March 2022 at the direction of President Museveni and he and his team under the leadership of the Minister of Kampala Capital and Metropolitan Affairs, Hajjat Minsa Kabanda and the Auditor General of the State House, Ms Jane Barekye, have been working on the project.
“Before, these ghetto youth had no leadership, but one thing we did was to develop leadership from the youth, so we held elections and through elections we had leaders at the district, parish and departmental levels.”
He added that the structure was launched by the Minister of Interior at the Lugogo Indoor Stadium in August 2022 and after the launch, they started organizing the youths into SACCOs because they noticed that previously many would lobby the government for slum youths to get resources but those resources never reached the intended recipients.
“What we did was we formed SACCOs and we started training the leaders of these SACCOs on how to run them and then we did mobilisation to ensure that the members themselves started saving under these SACCOs. Your Excellency, after you launched these SACCOs, we went into Operation Super and as I say now, we are talking about 3,280 depositors in 12 SACCOs and the youths themselves have already received Sh13.7 million from their own savings before you provided the resources that you will provide today. We thank you for fulfilling the promises you made to them in Kololo last year,” said Brigadier General Ddamulira.
Brigadier General Damulila further noted that the interventions have begun to bear fruit, with crime rates in Kampala, Wakiso and Mukono having dropped significantly.
“Even if you look at the police report we publish every year, the last report clearly shows that crime has gone down, but political violence has also gone down and these people have been used by politicians to create chaos in Kampala because they feel they have no stake in what is happening in the country. All these crimes have brought down the reputation of your Excellency and even in the recently planned parliamentary march, we did not record a single ghetto youth being involved in these things,” he asserted.
“Your Excellency, we believe that this project is progressing well and your support will play a huge role in providing them with the resources that have been lacking. We have carried out many projects but they could not be implemented due to funding constraints.”
A slum youth leader, Mr. Kaliyango Shafik expressed gratitude to President Museveni for empowering the people of the slums through financial and moral support.
He also thanked President Museveni for fulfilling his promise to donate Sh1.2 billion to slum SACCOs.
“Your Excellency, we have evidence that the money has entered our bank account,” he said.
“We are also grateful to Gen. Emma Kutesa, Major General Damula, Hajat Minsa Kabanda and their team for their support and care for the people of the slums.”
Mr Kaliyango also assured the President that they are now reformist citizens who look forward to working with the government to achieve the socio-economic transformation of the country.
The Vice President of the Kampala Metropolitan Area Slum Youth Association, Mrs Nakalema Jacky, requested President Museveni to consider them as a special group for inclusion in the PDM programme, saying they were deprived of opportunities due to their lifestyle and people believed they would not be able to repay the money. The President promised to direct Emiyuga and the PDM Secretariat to consider the slum structure.
Also present at the meeting were the Auditor General of the State House, Mrs Jane Barekye, Major Emma Kutesa, the Presidential Private Secretary on Youth, Agriculture, Value Addition and Export Promotion, Dr Hillary Musoke Kisanja and Nansana Deputy RDC, Mr Shafiq Ali Nsubuga.
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