LC 5 candidate roots for cooperatives to fight poverty
Busia district residents in particular and Ugandans at large, have been encouraged to form cooperatives or join existing ones and start saving for meaningful development.
Tonny Ojambo an independent candidate in the Busia district by-election, has advised Ugandans to save for sustainable development and desist from saving for merrymaking during festival periods.
“Most Ugandans tend to waste time by saving money for the whole year just to buy meat and new clothes instead of saving to invest in developmental projects to fight poverty, ” Ojambo said.
Ojambo who was addressing a campaign rally in Sikuda sub-county appealed to residents to use cooperatives as a vehicle for development by saving and getting loans to engage in small-scale business, generate profits and invest in other big ventures.
Saving for Christmas he said, has distorted and diluted the government’s plans of mobilizing people to form cooperatives and save to create development.
He appealed to Busia residents to emulate their Kenyan counterparts, who have strongly embraced the cooperative movement noting he will ensure that each household belongs to a Sacco.
If elected into office Ojambo said, he will mobilize fellow district chairpersons, under the umbrella Uganda Local Government Association (ULGA) to lobby the central government to increase funding to savings and credit cooperatives (SACCO’S).
The government’s aim of wanting people to come together is to form cooperatives and foster development and not to save for problems.
He expressed disappointment that local and national leaders in the country, have failed to ably guide people appreciate the cooperative movement.
Busia district chairperson’s seat fell vacant when the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court’s decision to remove the area chairperson Ouma Adea out of office, on grounds that he was ineligible to contest in the 2016 elections having been convicted over abuse of office by the anti-corruption Court in 2014.
Five candidates including NRM’s Paul Boniface Oguttu, Deo Hasubi Njoki the joint opposition candidate and independents Geoffrey Wandera, Crispus Bwire are fighting for area top political job in which voting is slated to be decided on November 28
