Bugweri Aspirant to Fight Poverty

from All Africa

New Vision (Kampala)

By Moses Nampala
Kampala

Godfrey Nabongho, an spirant in the Bugweri county by-election, has asked the people to vote for him, saying he will fight poverty through afforestration.

"My immediate priority when I become MP would be to mobilise the community to grow particular species of trees that can easily fetch you money," he told a rally at Buyanga trading centre.

Nabongho also promised to offer seedlings for free.

He said he would lobby for electricity and install rice and maize milling machines in the county.

Lack of electricity, Nabongho noted, had forced the villagers to sell their agricultural products at give-away prices in the raw form, since they could not process them.

The race has attracted seven aspirants including National Resistance Movement's Kirunda Kivejinja, Forum for Democratic Change's Abdu Katuntu and Shaban Nkuutu of the Uganda People's Congress party.

The Supreme Court declared the seat vacant after agreeing with Katuntu's petition that Kivejinja, the Minister for Information and National Guidance, bribed and intimidated voters during the February 2006 race.

Voters will cast their ballots on December 12.