The Minister In-Charge for Presidency, Hon. Babirye Milly Babalanda has commended the Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) Church in Uganda for always emphasizing development in their preaching and working hard to change the mindsets of young people.
“Your messages provide the relevance of God’s word but significantly you also ask the people to develop their social skills; especially, to build strong families and be useful citizens in their localities. This is what makes religion relevant to mankind and it should be encouraged. The NRM does not believe in dividing the people along religious lines. Religion is supposed to be a unifying force. That is why government is committed to providing services to every Ugandan irrespective of their religion,” Hon. Babalanda said.
The Minister made the remarks during a fundraising event for Bufumbira SDA Secondary School at Chuho SDA Grounds in Kisoro district on Sunday 27th November, 2022.
She advised that as leaders, they should encourage people to participate in development but most importantly encourage them to take their children to school.
“I am pleased to know that we have an SDA Secondary School in the District. This is a very big achievement by the SDA Community in Kisoro. The SDA community has very few schools in the country. However, it is well known that our schools produce very quality students who prioritize God and His power to transform and nurture human beings into useful vessels for the service of humanity. The products of our schools are in majority of cases a point of reference when it comes to character and effective service delivery,”Hon. Babalanda who was the Chief Fundraiser explained.
” … Because of that religious background, our schools are not associated with any negative media reports of student unrests as it is the case with many others which continue to suffer with unruly and probably uncultured student populations.”
The Minister further appealed to school administrations countrywide to take off time and talk to their students before they upgrade to university to ensure that they are not diverted by wrong elements into taking part in crimes.
“The attitude whereby we think that everyone joining the University must oppose and fight the Government is really unfortunate. I even don’t know where it came from. University students are misled by selfish elements into criminal and other unlawful activities and end up losing their lives. But if we talk to Higher School students; by the time they join University; they cannot easily be diverted into reckless behavior and peer influence,”she said.
Mrs. Babalanda on the other hand reaffirmed government’s commitment to enabling every Ugandan to come out of poverty.
According to the Minister, the Parish Development Model is the renewed government’s effort to enable Ugandans attain a middle-income status and be in a position to educate their children and fight illiteracy which is a big determinant of poverty.
“Kisoro has always featured as the region with very high poverty levels of all regions in Uganda. This is a very disturbing fact and quite a wake-up call for all the Kisoro leaders. However, Kisoro is not poor because the government does not care. On the contrary government has put in so much to help Kisoro develop but the problem is with some leaders and public officers who have not mobilized and sensitized the people,” she noted.
“The people are not empowered about what rightfully belongs to them and that which is being stolen by some uncaring leaders and civil servants. Indeed, the bigger problem now is corruption at the lower levels. The people who are stealing government money when it gets to the grassroots are most dangerous because they take away the money which is finally targeted for development. Surely, the problem has always been the thieves who have been stealing from the center, especially through deals but these have been reduced through deliberate efforts by the President.”
Hon. Babalanda also disclosed that the lower level corruption directly affects the people because it stops the services from getting to the people.
“This is why the Parish Development Model is targeting the parish purposely to defeat the influence of the dealers from the center. Going forward, we should use the parish development model to ask for accountability, to question the application of public resources and to benefit from what is available for our individual and group development. The PDM concerns all of us; Christian and non-Christian and we should all actively participate.”
On behalf of President Museveni, Hon. Babalanda delivered Shs20 million as start up contribution for the construction of an A’ level storied classroom block that will cost over Shs500 million upon completion.
“As Minister for the presidency; I cannot end minus reminding you that Mzee Museveni is still in charge of this country. In 2021 NRM made a commitment to Ugandans to secure their future under Mzee Museveni. The process to secure your future is on-going through different government programs and projects under his wise leadership. We need to believe that its only God who knows when we shall fully secure this future,” she said.
Bukimbiri County Member of Parliament, Hon. Eddie Kwizera who contributed 50 bags of cement towards the construction of the classroom block, said they are praying for President Museveni’s good health so that he is re-elected as Uganda’s President in 2026.
Kisoro LCV Chairperson, Mr. Abel Bizimana said contributing to the noble cause of putting up a school infrastructure is one way of loving and building Uganda.
“Before we go back home, we must build this structure so that people in this school can have capacity. The school should be ready to admit A’ level students by next year,” Mr. Bizimana who contributed Shs1.38 million stated.
The fundraising event was also attended by the Minister of State for Youth and Children Affairs, Hon. Nyirabashitsi Sarah Mateke, SDA leaders, District leaders among others.
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