President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has announced plans to double Presidential Zonal Skilling Hubs from 19 to 39, upgrade key roads and construct a new bridge linking Buganda to Nyangoma in Tanzania’s Kagera Region.

This is part of a renewed push for jobs and wealth creation in Greater Masaka by president Museveni.

Speaking to an enthusiastic crowd at St. James SS grounds in Kyotera on Friday, the President reminded residents that the area endured wars in 1972, 1979 and 1985, but has enjoyed nearly four decades of peace under the NRM.

According to him, government will work on the Mutukula–Kyotera–Kalisizo–Masaka and Kyapa–Kasensero roads to boost trade and connectivity.

True to his style, Museveni mixed policy with humour, saying wealth must always come before visible infrastructure.

The NRM presidential candidate, president Museveni in Kyotera on Friday

Recalling his move to Rwakitura in 1970, he said there was no tarmac, but there was a clear focus on production.

In Lwengo District, the President urged residents to abandon subsistence living and embrace commercial activities as the most sustainable way out of poverty.

While acknowledging the importance of roads, he warned against mistaking infrastructure for wealth.

“You cannot sleep on roads,” he said, encouraging households to engage in agriculture, manufacturing, services and ICT.

Museveni highlighted government support to farmers, noting that more than one million coffee seedlings and 280,000 orange seedlings have been distributed in Lwengo alone.

On jobs, he dismissed the idea that employment can only come from government, pointing out that the private sector employs most people in developed economies.

He cited a farmer who quit chasing a government job, ventured into commercial farming and now employs over 300 people.

Speaker of Parliament and NRM Second National Vice Chairperson (Female), Anita Annet Among, called for increased funding to the Land Fund to help tenants acquire land titles and urged support for coffee value addition through a grading machine in Lwengo.

NRM Vice Chairperson for Buganda Region Haruna Kasolo praised the government’s empowerment of women and youth and reaffirmed the party’s commitment to transforming livelihoods.

On Saturday, the  NRM flag bearer, president Museveni will tour Kalangala and Kalungu districts.