“We are happy that finally the President has fulfilled his pledge and this seed is going to help vendors to promote their small-scale businesses by getting loans at low interest rates,” said Mukalazi.
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The Special Presidential Assistant in charge of Communications at State House, Ian Gumisiriza Jeremiah, has encouraged market vendors at Kayunga Daily Market in Wakiso Town Council to utilize government wealth creation programs like Emyooga, Parish Development Model, and skilling hubs to improve their livelihoods and create jobs.
Gumisiriza who had delivered a sh10m pledge made by President Yoweri Museveni in 2015, emphasized that the funding is not a bribe but the President’s responsibility to support them.
He urged vendors to capitalize on the peace brought by Museveni’s regime to boost business stability.
” When the President supports you with money in the SACCO, and you are already a vendor with one stall, you will have the freedom to borrow and open another one. But you can’t run both at the same time, so you will need someone to help, which means you will be creating jobs in the process.”
“Similarly, the stories we have heard from all over the country, where we have travelled with the President during the campaigns, are evident. People are still testifying how they were jobless, but when they heard about the President’s free skilling hubs, they joined, studied, and created jobs. Now, they are employing others, and the rest is history” Gumisiriza emphasized.
He made the call on Wednesday while delivering a pledge of sh.10m which was made by President Yoweri Museveni in 2015 while enroute to Destiny’s Bridge Gombe Primary school.
To start with, President Museveni stopped over at the market and promised the vendors’ SACCO a seed fund of sh10m after discussing several issues with them.
He also urged them to capitalize on the peace brought about by President Museveni’s regime to boost their business stability, unlike in the past regimes.
“Some people from different regions of Uganda can attest that they used to build small, substandard, grass-thatched houses due to fear of having to flee their homes during wars. That’s why President Museveni decided to bring peace to Ugandans, so everyone can work without fear for their business or lives, with good security.” Gumisiriza added.
Gumisiriza thanked the vendors and their SACCO committee for remaining patient and advised them not to forget to vote for President Museveni come January 15th.
He emphasized that the SACCO funding wasn’t a bribe, but rather the President’s responsibility to support them but above all the members were not yet ready to use the money.
” I would like to also make this clear that bringing this money now does not mean that we have come here to bribe you to vote for President Museveni but the SACCO faced challenges during COVID-19,”
” However, I would like to thank the members for remaining resilient and managed to resurrect the SACCO that almost collapsed and after our assessment, we found out that it was back on track and members are ready to use the money,”
” We also passed the message to the President, he fulfilled his pledge and I have today handed it over to the members and SACCO executive.” Gumisiriza noted.
He also encouraged them to fly the national flag, saying they shouldn’t be intimidated by anyone who restricts them from showing their patriotism. He noted that some people wrongly associate flag-wearing with support for opposition political parties, but it’s a symbol of national pride and unity for all Ugandans.
On his part, Fredson Mukalazi, the Wakiso Town Council Mayor also thanked the President for fulfilling his promise and urged the vendors to use the funds wisely.
“We are happy that finally the President has fulfilled his pledge and this seed is going to help vendors to promote their small-scale businesses by getting loans at low interest rates,” said Mukalazi.
Hamidah Nabunya the SACCO treasurer, also thanked the President for fulfilling his pledge but also requested him to consider adding the SACCO more money as COVID-19 pandemic hindered their progress.
” We are grateful to receive the money which the President promised us in 2015; however, we are requesting him to send us more money because COVID-19 left our businesses down but also the number of members did increase from 2015 up to date,” Stated Nabunya.
Paddy Mutume, the NRM Vice Chairperson of Wakiso Town Council praised the government’s programs and announced that they have secured two slots under PDM and thanked the President for supporting the vendors.
The event was also attended by the local council NRM candidates who are seeking votes to represent the people of Wakiso Town Council in the district for the next five years.