Leave villages for jobs in towns - Ugandan state official tells youth

A Ugandan government official has advised youth in villages to leave to the towns in order to protect the wetlands and avert drought.

The deputy Attorney General, Mr Mwesigwa Rukutana said on Sunday that the problem of drought in the country is due to the increasing agricultural activities in the villages by the youth, local media Daily Monitor reported.

“We want our wetlands restored. In developed countries, you will never find many young men in villages. You find them in towns with jobs in industries, with jobs they have created themselves and others employed in government, which leaves few to stay in villages,” he said during a church service in the Kajara county of the Ntungamo District.

“What has caused drought is people becoming many in villages, lacking food to eat and going to wetlands to grow crops there, that has brought drought,” he added. Crops in many parts of Uganda have been destroyed due to prolonged drought caused by changing rainfall pattern, floods and landslides, according to the UN food agency FAO which warned of impending food crisis this year.

In December last year, President Museveni warned against the invasion of wetlands and local water resources. He said his government will procure solar-powered water pumps to pump water into reservoirs for communities to curb the act.

The government acknowledged last year that over 1.3 million Ugandans are already in need of urgent food aid as a result of starvation caused by climate change.