Two weeks ago, President Yoweri Museveni camped in Bushenyi district on a mission to reawaken the people on workable strategies that could enable them walk out of poverty and improve household incomes.
Soon after that one journalist rang me and put me to task. "How come", he asked, "that the President went to Bushenyi so soon after opposition leader Dr. Kizza Besigye had just left the same area?"
I pointed out that the President's visit had nothing to do with Besigye's and in fact, the President had met the Bushenyi district leadership in Rwakitura way back in November 2007 and they asked him to go to Bushenyi for a visit to sensitise people on poverty alleviation. He promised them he would visit in February 2008.
Of course the journalist never reported my explanation - he did not want the facts to spoil what to him is a juicy story. He insinuated that the President's visit was precisely what it was not: a panic reaction to the opposition leader's visit.
The purpose of the President's visit was to enhance poverty alleviation through encouraging commercial agriculture.
So he went to all the five counties of Bushenyi - Buhweju, Sheema, Ruhinda, Igara and Bunyaruguru - meeting the area leaders and addressing rallies in each county.
Commercial farming, he argued, is the key to bonna baggaggawale.
The President's visit is very important because it is reawakening our people, helping them to focus on their potential. No government will put money into people's pockets; it simply creates an atmosphere in which they can fully exploit their talent and potential. It is this aggregate of productive people that produces the wealth of a country.
The President followed a consistent pattern: dealing first with individuals, then with crowds. He took time to chat with a few farmers in each county, checked out their shambas, listening to their explanations on how they run their show and how much they earn annually.