NRM to spend billions on village youth councils

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The National Resistance Movement [NRM] is spending at least 50,000 Shillings on each village youth council to help them disseminate the party manifesto with just a few days to polling day. According to records by the Electoral Commission, Uganda has 70,626 villages. Therefore, the party would spend more than 3.5 billion Shillings on the councils.

Speaking to reporters at the NRM secretariat at Kyadondo road in Kampala today, Jacob Eyeru, the chairperson of the NRM National Youth mobilization team said that the money would be used to buy airtime to reach out to NRM youth supporters.

Eyeru said that the NRM youth mobilization team has summarized the party’s manifesto especially on the promises they have made to the youths that they ought to know. These summarized manifestos are going to be distributed to all villages across the country before election day next week. The teams will also be given transport facilitation in amounts which Eyeru did not disclose.

Last month, the party Secretary-General Justine Kasule Lumumba announced that the party would be spending more than 60 billion Shillings on facilitating its flag bearers across the country to canvass for votes. The source of the NRM funds has always been a point of contention with the opposition accusing them of helping themselves with state funds.

Eyeru expressed optimism that the NRM candidate Yoweri Kaguta Museveni will score more votes than other candidates assumed to be more popular with the youths. Although he did not disclose who he was referring to, it was understood that he was talking about the National Unity Platform candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu who at 38 years and with a lot of youth support, appears to be the leading opponent against President Museveni.

Meanwhile, Eyeru rallied the youth to reject any temptation to engage in acts that destabilize the country. He said because the majority of Ugandans have not witnessed the war in their lifetime, they regard statements by the NRM presidential candidate about securing peace for the country as idle talk.

For his part, Nasur Gaddafi, the NRM Youth League chairperson assured the youths that the NRM manifesto of 2021-26 is full of policies that will see them get out of poverty. He said unlike the ‘rhetoric’ from their opponents on creating youth employment opportunities, they provide a clear strategy on how to achieve this.

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