The speaker of Lira district local government, Mr Peter Ocen has foreseen failure of the ongoing government program-operation wealth creation which replaced the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADs).
He says that when government proposed to phase out NAADs, he saw no future as the operation is only rewarding loyalists of President Yoweri Museveni and not the general public.
He says that, “It’s very unfortunate that national resources are only being shared among National Resistance Movement (NRM) diehards and party member not caring about recovery and accountability.”
Mr Ocen states that government reviewing the mechanisms being used, the beneficiaries will not be accountable and the purpose of the program which is supposed to be revolving wealth will not be realized.
The Deputy Resident District Commissioner Gulu, Mr Awany Andrew however said that even though there are challenges in the wealth creation program, the public is supposed to be involved so that the project succeeds.
He said, “There have been several projects to promote agriculture but all have failed from time immemorial to date starting from the ‘‘Bonabagagawale’’and other government programs which have no trace in terms of improving the house hold incomes.”
Awany says that the target should be, that each region begins producing specific cash crops which can attract commercial buyers who purchase in bulk.
He says that most farmers continue to complain about market but there is no way that bulk buyers can purchase from farmers who can’t sustain the market demand.
Mr. Ojok Isaac Newton, the deputy LC V chairman Gulu district local government says that Northern region has some of the best land for cultivation but farmer’s attitudes is very power towards improving on their tradition ways of farming.
He says that, “When farmers are given inputs under wealth creation they either eat the seeds or end up mixing them with non-quality products where the end result is very poor quality products which can’t be marketed at international level.
Mr Ojok says people should not mix the operation wealth creation with politics and only stick to the guiding principles to avoid mismanagement.
He said, “The officers responsible for operation wealth creation are working hand in hand with district agriculture officers and production officers to ensure that all inputs are given to the farmers.”
The leaders were speaking at the 4th annual progress report validation workshop of Northern region of the Africa Peer Review Mechanism.
The Africa Peer Review Mechanism represents a new Paradigm in governance that helps improve governance and socio-economic transformation through domestic accountability and collective action among member states.
The mechanism identifies strength and challenges in governance on the African continent in democracy and political governance, economic governance and management, corporate governance and socio economic development.
It also identifies deficiencies and promotes the sharing of best practices in addressing challenges in the area of democratic governance and development in Africa.
