Koboko MP Dr. Sharifa Aate Fulfills Bold Campaign Promise With Five Brand-New Tractors

KOBOKO. Dr. Sharifa Aate, the Koboko district Woman Member of Parliament (MP) took her voters by surprise on Saturday when she unveiled five brand new tractors procured in fulfilment of her pledge to the people of Koboko district.

The tractors Aate promised during the 2021 campaigns were paraded before a section of voters who were celebrating the Koboko Municipality women’s day at Teremunga Primary School ground.

Speaking at the function, Aate said: “I want to give my women a gift today. Aate came here and said she was going to give you five tractors. Now, Aate has officially brought the five tractors that she promised for the people of Koboko.”

She appealed to the people to use the tractors to boost agriculture given the abundance of land in the district.

“And I want my women to be able to make more money through agriculture. Currently, we are still digging with hoes, I want them to commercialize farming so that at least we get money not just to eat for survival but we also do more businesses,” Aate stated.

“I also want my people to produce more food so that we can add value to the food that we are producing as Koboko. I don’t want us to just produce cassava and we sell our cassava like that, I want us to start seeing how we can create a value chain for our products to reach far to be able to make better money,” Aate added.

Aate promised to dig at least two acres of land using the tractors for each women group in Koboko district for free.

She said thereafter, the women can then pay the rest at a reduced fee which will be used for maintaining the tractors.

Aate encouraged the farmers in Koboko to replace growing of tobacco with cocoa, arguing that cocoa fetches more money than tobacco.

Leila Abuye, the West Division women council chairperson, commended Aate for donating the tractors, saying the tractors will help them to open more land especially in the villages for agriculture.

Abuye said it is a pleasure to receive such a gift on women’s day, a day which she says has empowered women to speak in front of people.

“As women, we have been empowered by the government of Uganda more specially, in the area of health which has been improved in Koboko by opening more health center IIIs. Now women are delivering in hospitals. The other challenge of women delivering at home is no longer there.

Secondly, more schools have been opened where all girls are able to go to school and the issue of women getting government money has helped the women from grassroots to get what they want. Thirdly, the roads are now improved, people are moving freely, they transport their goods. So, I’m proud of being a woman and I thank the government of Uganda for empowering the women,” Abuye said.

In his remarks, Wilson Sanya, the Koboko Municipality Mayor, said women in Uganda and Koboko Municipality in particular, have played a big role in the development of the country.

“Women are the most reliable category of human beings now people believe in. For me, celebrating women’s day is one of the pillars we can consider if we are to achieve a peaceful Municipality like Koboko Municipal. The women do everything for us, they take care of us, so for me to come here I come to celebrate not only the women here but also my mother who has made me what I’m, to celebrate my wife and other women who have contributed to my life and my wellbeing,” Sanya said.

Emmanuel Banya Natal, the Muni University Secretary, also the aspiring MP for Koboko County, noted that world-wide, women have been recognized for their contribution in socio-economic empowerment of the society, household development and raising of children in terms of education and livelihood.

“And therefore, today we are remembering all the women who have stood tall in different ways in making a contribution to society in their various capacities; in the military, in business, in education, in politics, in whatever spheres of life that they have made their contributions. We say bravo to the women!” Banya said.