President Yoweri Museveni has urged Christian families to combine faith with wealth creation, financial discipline and hard work, saying spiritual light cannot thrive in households trapped in extreme poverty.
Mr Museveni said families must move beyond prayer and actively engage in productive enterprises to improve their incomes, create jobs and address economic hardships affecting communities.
"True light means having food security, financial security, good health for everyone," Mr Museveni said, in a message delivered by Lands, Housing and Urban Development Minister Judith Nabakooba at the Church of Uganda Mothers' Union National Exhibition held on August 28 at Mengo SS in Kampala.
The President was addressing hundreds of Mother's Union members who had gathered for the exhibition, which showcased women's skills and businesses alongside spiritual activities.
He commended the organisation for mobilising Christian women to fight poverty at household level, saying economic empowerment of women has a direct impact on the wellbeing of the entire family.
"When a woman is empowered economically, the entire household changes. If the mother is financially stable, children go to school, proper nutrition is provided, hygiene improves and domestic conflicts arising from poverty are reduced," he said.
Mr Museveni said the solution to poverty lies in creating wealth and jobs by engaging in commercial agriculture, industries, services and information and communication technology (ICT).He said government has invested in infrastructure, including roads, electricity, schools and hospitals, which families should utilise to improve their livelihoods.
"The actual medicine against poverty is creating wealth and jobs by selecting an enterprise in the four sectors of commercial agriculture, industries, services and ICT," he said.
The President said infrastructure should provide a foundation for families to solve their own economic challenges.
He gave the example of roads, saying improved transport infrastructure enables farmers and other producers to move their goods to markets more easily.
"A good tarmac road will enable you to transport your product easily to the marketplace. Therefore, every family must take advantage of the existing infrastructure and the wealth funds to generate family wealth and jobs," he said.
Mr Museveni urged the Mother's Union members to return to their homes and communities as agents of both spiritual renewal and socio-economic transformation.
He asked them to anchor their families on biblical values while embracing wealth creation, financial discipline and hard work.
"Continue to lead by example, anchor your families on biblical values and fully embrace wealth creation to eliminate poverty from your communities by pairing deep Christian faith with financial discipline and hard work," he said.
The President's message comes as the Mothers' Union celebrates 119 years of existence in Uganda and 150 years of the ministry worldwide, with the organisation using the national exhibition to showcase livelihood skills and raise funds for community projects.
Ms Nabakooba, who represented Mr Museveni at the event, urged the women to tap into government programmes aimed at improving household incomes, particularly the Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme (UWEP) and the Parish Development Model (PDM).
"There are a number of programmes towards women improvement but also improving our socio-economic transformation. We have programmes like UWEP, the Women Entrepreneurship Programme, and now we have PDM, which we are implementing at parish level," she said.
Ms Nabakooba congratulated the Mothers' Union for its contribution to strengthening families through prayer, skills development and economic activities.
She said the organisation's work demonstrates how faith-based groups can contribute to national development by combining spiritual growth with social and economic empowerment.
Mothers' Union Provincial President Grace Murengezi said the organisation has made economic empowerment one of its priorities, with members acquiring skills and producing goods for sale.
She said the exhibition was an opportunity for women to display their products while generating income and supporting their projects.
Ms Murengezi also revealed that the Mothers' Union is fundraising to construct a boys' hostel where young men will be accommodated and mentored.
"We want to have our boys who will be staying in our hostel to nurture them so that they can fulfil their potential when they grow," she said.
Assistant Bishop of the Archdiocese of Kampala, His Worship The Most Rev Bishop Fredrick Jackson Baalwa, said the Church of Uganda is ready to work with the government on initiatives aimed at supporting vulnerable people and fighting poverty.
He commended the Mothers' Union for developing livelihood skills and empowering women economically, saying stronger families contribute to a stronger nation.
The Mothers' Union, which has more than four million members in 84 countries, focuses on strengthening families, nurturing children, supporting vulnerable people and promoting community development.
