{UAH} "Politics of Malwa" Fact checker: Museveni to give Shs2m to malwa group per village

Dr. Owor,

Yesterday it was Robert Atuhairwe telling us how he enjoyed discussing politics in a malwa joint. Today his mentor is promising each malwa group in each Ugandan village 2m.

CLAIM: President Museveni has promised to give women who are struggling to make a living through brewing malwa (local crude brew) Shs2m per village in the 112 districts to boost their business. He made the promise while campaigning in Amudat District in Karamoja sub-region last week.

FACT: According to the 2014 census report, there are 112 districts in Uganda with 1,382 sub-counties. If we estimate each sub-county to have a minimum average of 60 villages, it comes to 82,920 villages across the country.

This means the President will require at least Shs1.6 trillion to meet the promise to the malwa groups. And the figure would be incredibly bigger and more untenable if the number of villagers is higher or some villages have more than one malwa group each, as is likely to be the case.

1.The Shs1.6 trillion for the malwa groups would be equal to the total amount allocated to Defence andSecurity ministries in the 2015/16 Budget and half of the budget for the transport sector, the highest funded segment of the budget Shs3.3 trillion.

The question is, has the president and Robert at last realized how our rural based technology is the back borne of our economy? Malwa groups such as the one Atuhairwe visited recently should dash for "their" money and hold the president accountable if he fails to honour his pledge. Who is now lying, Opposition or NRM?

Peter Simon