Nakaseke: In a bid to curb unemployment, Poverty and transforming communities in the Greater Luwero, the State minister for Luwero Triangle and Rwenzori Region Alice Kaboyo has met the first group of veterans in Nakaseke who heaped praises on her for being a workaholic Minister based on the few days she has been in the office and what she has already achieved.
The Minister further held consultative meetings with Nakaseke district leaders, whom she advised to work closely with her office to close service delivery gaps and ensure accountable service delivery benefits the right people.
Ms Rose Birungi, the Luweero Resident District Commissioner said the issue of uncompensated war veterans is very complex and called the Minister for special consideration as the government moves to decentralize services at the Luweero Triangle ministry through the newly commissioned regional office.
“Many veterans come to my office demanding answers as to why they have not yet been considered for compensation yet their counterparts got their packages. We need to use the new regional office to boost service delivery as a government,” She said.
The tireless Minister who says is committed to implementing his boss and party’s manifesto said President Museveni is very concerned about the slow development in village areas of Luweero Triangle and wants the issue of service delivery prioritised.
“It is also true that the war compensation programme has never been complete despite the different interventions. I have already discussed with the Attorney General about the issue of the war veterans compensation that remains a big subject in this area. We need to resolve the compensation process and close the chapter,” she said.
The Minister urged fellow leaders to work towards the attainment of the national development objectives as stated in the National Development Plan 3 and further advised them that planning should focus on areas that have a direct impact on improving the quality of life of the people of Nakaseke and most especially the veterans.
”The President’s commitment to seeing transformed communities in the Greater Luwero is what I advocated for and I can’t achieve it without your support, so kindly I request you to back me up to ensure that service delivery in our Ministry is at the peak.”
Minister Alice Kaboyo while addressing veterans at Kapeeka
From the meeting with district leaders, the Minister rushed to meet the civilian veterans at Kapeeka Sub-County to appreciate their challenges and seek solutions.
At the Sub-County grounds where the meeting was scheduled, hundreds of veterans who were strictly observing COVID-19 SOPs were engulfed with joy and happiness upon seeing their new Minister whom they nicknamed mother of veterans.
It is at the same ground that Minister learnt about a couple of problems affecting veterans that include among others; Poverty which they said could be solved by giving them machines to increase the productivity of their produce like coffee, passion fruits, mangos among others.
They also raised the issue of the heroic send-off of veterans and also requested the Minister to top up the package given to veterans which Minister responded thus;
”But why are you interested in money, why don’t we change to Agriculture, because money can be consumed in a single day but a cow can multiply and give you wealth and that’s even how you can eradicate some of the mafias you said eat your Kasiimo,” she noted.
Government found it wise to have some of the affairs regarding the Luweero Triangle region resolved and managed at the regional office since many war veterans are of age and cannot travel long distances to access services at the ministry in Kampala.
“The new office will bridge the communication gap and act as a coordinating centre for the various government projects under the Luweero Triangle Ministry. The new office is not for the war veterans but for government programs under the Luweero Triangle Ministry,” the minister clarified.
Minister, in conclusion, pledged to refurbish the roof of Kapeeka sub-county as was requested by Nakaseke District Finance Secretary Ms, Mukagatare Gorret.
While government estimates the number of liberation war veterans supposed to benefit from both the gratuity and war to be about 80,000, including those that have already been compensated, the different verification programmes organised by the Ministry of Defence have always incurred surprises of new war claimants who were never captured in the ministry data earlier.
In 2018, defence ministry commissioned a committee to oversee the verification exercise through documentation of an estimated 79,000 civilian and army veterans that had been lined up for compensation of their respective gratuity and pension areas worth Shs500 billion.
The committee was tasked to fix the gaps that had come up, including several cases of new claimants that the government thought had already benefited.
