MP Obigah Urges Terego Residents To Embrace Cocoa Growing

TEREGO. Rose Obigah, the Terego District Woman Member of Parliament (MP) has urged the people of Terego to embrace Cocoa growing in the district.

Obigah who offered over 100,000 free Cocoa seedlings for the people of Terego, said Cocoa growing is a sure way of getting the residents out of poverty.

“I have over 100,000 Cocoa seedlings ready for planting, come and pick the seedlings for free. Dig enough Cocoa planting holes, apply some manure in the holes and plant the Cocoa seedlings to change your lives in the near future,” Obigah appealed.

She made the appeal while presiding over the belated Terego district Women’s Day celebrations at Obiyu Primary School playground in Omugo Sub-County on Monday, March 17, 2025.

The day which attracted thousands of locals, leaders and implementing partners was marked under the theme: “Accelerate Action.”

During the function, the Woman MP revealed to the residents of Terego that a kilogram of Cocoa goes for Shs42,000, adding that one Cocoa tree can generate between Shs700,000 to Shs1,300,000 if well catered for.

“Women, as we celebrate our day, kindly request for land from men and plant Cocoa. I have the seedlings for you. Besides Cocoa, you should equally plant Coffee because it is economically viable. Don’t also forget to plant Avacado and Jackfruits so that when children come back from school, they can enjoy the fruits,” Obigah advised.

Obigah later handed over Shs3.9m to the women who turned up for the function and vowed to continue fighting for their wellbeing in Parliament.

She promised to follow up on the different government programs such as GROW and the Parish Development Model (PDM) to ensure that the women of Terego benefit from the projects.

Obigah, whom women cheered throughout the function, also pledged to deal with the corrupt elements in the district. She asked the women to call her whenever somebody demands for money from them in exchange for government services.

On the empowerment of the people of Terego, Obigah was strongly supported by Godwin Angalia, the Terego Resident District Commissioner (RDC), who observed that Cocoa and Coffee grow very well in the district.

He, however, said there is need to sensitize the people to join the money economy by making use of their fertile but idle land to grow Cocoa and Coffee.

Sunday Ayikoru, the Terego district vice chairperson, said if women are empowered, they can do better than men in all aspects of life.

“Those days, women used to be in the kitchen, women used not to eat the gizzard but these days, I can cook and eat my gizzard and the man will not ask, Sunday where is my gizzard because of the women emancipation brought by President Museveni. So, I want to thank our President for awakening women from sleep,” Ayikoru said.

She asked the women of Terego district to make use of the different government programs so as to desist from the tendency of waiting for everything from men.

Ayikoru reported that for example, in Terego district, a total of 836 women have benefited from Shs428,267,000 Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Program (UWEP).

Meanwhile she said under the PDM program, Shs3,198,000,000 has gone to a total of 3,888 women in the district.

But Asunta Anguko, 57, a resident of Baratiku village, Onai Parish, Aiivu Sub-County, argued that most women in her village have not yet benefited from the PDM funds.

She said the PDM money usually goes to the relatives and friends of those in charge of its distribution, not the ordinary and genuine needy people in the district.

Anguko, who acknowledged the government’s effort of getting women out of darkness, requested leaders to ensure that women benefit from the different government programs without bias.

Speaking on behalf of implementing partners, Edrine Nanziri, the Assistant Gender Based Violence Officer – UNHCR Arua, congratulated all the women who turned up for the function.

However, she still noted that even the women people think are very much empowered, are not yet empowered to the level that is required.

“On behalf of UNHCR, we are dedicated to work hard with partners to contribute towards achieving sustainable development goal number five that talks about emphasizing equality. We still have women who look empowered but at home they are the ones blamed for very many children, then you will wonder who puts the children.

We still have women who are being blamed for having disabled children, we still have women who look empowered in front of people but they can’t decide anything at home and when they decide, it means they are rude, we still have very many women who are being blamed for the poverty at home even if they don’t know the cause of the poverty even when there is death at home, they blame it on the woman’s side. So, we need to step up or accelerate further to achieve the real empowerment we deserve as women,” Nanziri said.

The colorful day was graced by different forms of entertainment including parade, poems, traditional dance and drama among other performances.