Bobi Wine de-campaigns Museveni in Busoga over poverty comments

Bobi Wine de-campaigns Museveni in Busoga over poverty comments

KAMPALA. After bringing about poverty in the region, Robert Kyagulanyi, better known by his stage name Bobi Wine, requested the residents of the Busoga sub-region not to identify him with President Museveni.

President Museveni recently questioned how the residents of Busoga are able to survive in such abject poverty, and Bobi Wine was replying to those remarks while he presided over the inaugural Bishop James Hannington Day at Kyando Playground in Mayuge District.

“Busoga once had the best schools, including Kiira College Butiki and Busoga College Mwiri, as well as the largest sugar cane farmers in all of East Africa, but Museveni has destroyed all of these.

Bobi Wine addressed Mr. Andrew Kaluuya from the National Resistance Movement (NRM) at the weekend as he was being greeted in the Iganga District, saying, “Please don’t link yourselves with him; you are on your own.

In his remarks, President Museveni said, “As I drove here for this event, I kept looking out the window and wondering to myself, ‘How do these people live with this sort of poverty?'” I have driven through all of these communities, but the houses and everything else I have seen have made me wonder how our people manage to survive in such challenging economic times.

According to statistics from the 2016–17 Uganda National Household Survey, 74.8 percent of residents in the Busoga Sub-region, compared to a national average of 63 percent, were classified as poor and insecure.

Eleven districts, 114 subcounties, 648 parishes, four municipalities, and eleven town councils make up the Busoga subregion.

Apart from the poor sanitation, nine of these districts were overrun by jiggers in 2010, and many locals blamed the jiggers’ presence on poverty.

Although the area is highly endowed with tourist destinations, according to Bobi Wine on November 5, 2022, the government of President Museveni has neglected these.

“We have Kiira (the Nile River) and many other tourist attractions, but the thief who took all the money is back to mock you. In a speech to the region’s leaders, including former Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga, Bobi Wine said, “I am glad you are listening and it is obvious how you voted in the last election. Please join the side of the people.

According to data from the Uganda Tourism Board for 2018–19, 24% of all tourists to Uganda travel through Busoga. But the majority of the tourist attractions are still developing.
The Nile’s Source, Kagulu Hill, Mpumuire/Mpumudde Hill, and Kyando are a few of them (Bishop Hannington site).

President Museveni’s remarks regarding the poverty levels in Busoga were disputed by Mr. Rogers Mulindwa, a spokesperson for the NRM secretariat, who said that the region was not an outlier compared to the rest of the nation.

Busoga is not an exception, Mr. Mulindwa remarked last night. “I want to disagree with the President that Busoga is impoverished in comparison to the other regions. Even in Kampala, there are individuals who cannot buy a meal yet there are those who eat and throw away the food.

“The problem with the NRM leaders is that after being elected, they come to Kampala and withdraw from the populace, which allows Bobi Wine to travel there and spread his propaganda,” he continued. As a matter of fact, President Museveni lost in Busoga because the MPs in that district consciously chose not to support him. They decided to run for office themselves.

President Museveni suffered a setback in the presidential elections as voters supported Bobi Wine more than the incumbent, despite the fact that he had previously defeated his rivals.

A day after the events on Saturday in Iganga, Bobi Wine criticized the NUP officials for fomenting dissension among their members while he was at a sporting event in the Masaka area. Along with other party leaders, Mathias Mpuuga, the deputy party president in charge of the central area, attended the event.