PRESIDENT SAYS SOCIETIES MUST EVOLVE FROM SUBSISTENCE MODES OF PRODUCTION
President Yoweri Museveni has challenged Ugandans and Africa in general to work towards eliminating social backwardness which he says is responsible for our underdevelopment.
“We, in Uganda and most parts of Africa, have been struggling with the problem of the backward nature of our societies. This backwardness is on account of preserving the subsistence modes of production. You cannot achieve the SDGs if the
society remains backward” Museveni said in a speech read for him by Vice President Maj. Jessica Alupo who represented him at the opening of the Second Uganda Annual Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) conference at Serena hotel.
The president said if a society does not evolve from the lower modes of production, it cannot develop and prosper. He said parochial societies such as the hunter gatherer societies and peasant societies have what he called narrow interests as; all their efforts are geared towards getting food.
“They work for only food. They do not know about the importance of schools, roads, electricity, railway, markets etc. Therefore, we must work to eliminate social backwardness which is responsible for underdevelopment” he said.
Museveni noted that this is the reason his governmnent talks of socio-economic transformation, which aims at triggering change from mainly peasant societies to the middle-class and skilled societies like it is the case with Europe and the United
States of America.
He said since 1986, the NRM government has been working towards expanding the monetization of the economy, so that the whole society goes to the money economy, to produce for the stomach and for the pocket.
“We have managed to mobilise
and support Ugandans to select enterprises, where they can
participate in order to earn income to feed their families; but
also to deal with non-money needs: build a better house, have better clothes, have electricity in theirhouses, have piped water, education among others” he said. The president outlined the four sectors for the creation of wealth and jobs including commercial agriculture, manufacturing, industry, services and ICT and noted that Uganda remains on course to achieve all the SDGs in partnership with development partners. He said that governmnent supports the SDGs because they represent the global aspirations of guaranteeing descent and prosperous life for all inhabitants on earth.
“The NRM strategy for accelerating the progress towards achieving the SDGs and agenda 2063 is to trigger the socioeconomic transformation of society. Therefore, the qualitative and quantitative growth of societyare preconditions for achieving all the Sustainable Development Goals” he said.
