Janet Kataha Museveni, the Minister of Education and Sports, who doubles as the First Lady of Uganda, has appealed to women in Uganda to empower themselves through programmes like the Parish Development Model so they can fight poverty.

She made the appeal in a speech delivered by the Minister of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development, Judith Nabakooba, on April 18, 2024, during the belated International Women’s Day celebrations in Kyankwanzi District.

“Let us create awareness in order to help women utilize the resources provided to them under the current Parish Development Model,” part of the statement read.

She advised the women to form a Savings and Credit Cooperative Organization (SACCO) that will help them promote economic empowerment and make sure that no woman is left out.

“We can create a sense of sisterhood that is centered on bringing everyone to a place where we can all benefit from the prevailing socio-economic transformation,” the first lady said.

Nabakooba expressed her concern over land grabbing and evictions in Kyankwanzi District and advised residents to work closely with the Ministry of Lands to ensure that their land issues are resolved.

“No person should claim ownership of the land without legal documents, which have to first be subjected to the Lands Ministry for verification. We have seen forgeries, especially in the land sector, with the intention of grabbing people’s land. We therefore need to verify their authenticity,” Nabakooba said.

The Minister of Education contributed an amount of UGX 50 million towards the start-up of the Women’s SACCO.