BUYENDE — Minister for the Presidency and Budiope West Member of Parliament, Babirye Milly Babalanda, has urged Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) pastors to use their pulpits to promote government wealth-creation programmes and encourage believers to work hard to overcome household poverty.
Babalanda made the call during the closing ceremony of a nine-day SDA Camp Retreat held at Nkondo SDA Church Zone in Buyende District, which brought together hundreds of believers from across the district.
Addressing the congregation, Babalanda conveyed greetings from President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports Janet Kataaha Museveni, Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President Hajji Yunus Kakande, and staff of the Office of the President.
She commended the SDA leadership and believers in Buyende for dedicating nine days to prayer, Bible study and fellowship, saying religious institutions have an important role to play in promoting moral values, unity and national development.
Babalanda said the Government has created an environment that allows Ugandans to freely worship while also supporting initiatives aimed at improving household incomes.
She challenged religious leaders to complement government efforts by using their platforms to encourage believers to participate in wealth-creation programmes and turn available opportunities into productive enterprises.
“As the Government pushes for transformation to upper-middle-income status, faith must go hand in hand with work. We must work to end poverty and contribute to national development,” Babalanda said.
She cited programmes including the Parish Development Model (PDM), Emyooga, the Youth Livelihood Programme, Operation Wealth Creation (OWC) and GROW, saying significant public resources have been committed to improving household incomes.
However, she warned beneficiaries against misusing the funds, urging them to exercise financial discipline, invest wisely and work hard to create sustainable sources of income.
Babalanda also encouraged families to embrace President Museveni’s four-acre model as a strategy for rural households to diversify production and improve their livelihoods.
Under the model, she explained, one acre can be dedicated to coffee as a long-term cash crop, another to fruits such as oranges, mangoes and cocoa, a third to food crops including maize, beans, cassava, sweet potatoes and vegetables, while the fourth can be used for pasture to support zero-grazing dairy farming.
She further encouraged households to establish small-scale projects around their homes, including vegetable gardens and poultry for egg production.
She said communities should identify enterprises suited to their circumstances and make use of available land and other resources to generate income.
The Minister also told the congregation that President Museveni has tasked leaders and citizens with fighting corruption and embracing hard work as key requirements for national transformation.
“There must be no sleeping. As Christians, our hands must work as much as our voices praise. That is how we shall defeat poverty,” she said.
Babalanda’s message placed particular emphasis on the role of pastors in shaping the attitudes of communities, urging them to make wealth creation part of their regular messages to congregations.
She said preaching against poverty should be accompanied by practical guidance that encourages families to work, save, invest and make productive use of government programmes.
In support of the church’s activities, Babalanda contributed Shs1.2 million towards the construction of the Nkondo SDA Church.
She concluded by encouraging the believers to remain steadfast in their faith, saying commitment to God should be accompanied by productive work and responsible stewardship of the opportunities available to them.
The SDA leadership thanked Babalanda for her continued support to the church and for her engagement with communities in Budiope West and the wider Busoga region.
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