The Minister of Finance in Uganda, Haruna Kasolo, has reportedly urged the parliament to pass a bill allowing poor people to be enrolled in a program where they would be subjected to regular beatings with lashes and whips as a means to motivate them to seek employment and become wealthy.
According to a report from Eye Radio in the country, the minister stated that the leadership of President Museveni’s government has comprehensive plans to ensure that Ugandans overcome poverty, and this is one way to achieve that goal.
“President Museveni and the NRM government have laid out comprehensive plans to eradicate poverty with the aim of ensuring that every Ugandan becomes wealthy. However, there are some who are sluggish and remain in poverty,” a portion of the minister’s speech was quoted.
“In the future, the government may have to pass a bill where all poor people will be subjected to beatings to learn how to work and also become wealthy because we have realized that some Ugandans need to be pushed towards the path of acquiring wealth,” the statement added.
The minister was addressing a meeting of the coalition of small-scale business cooperatives, where the theme was to encourage people on how to invest their assets.
This is not the first time a senior government official in the country has made controversial statements. In May 2022, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Kahinda Otafire, said that poor people will not go to heaven.
The minister stated that those who continue to pray to God to be freed from poverty bother God because they were given hands to work and become wealthy. He made these remarks at an event held at St Klaus Comprehensive Business School in Bufunjo village, Kyenjojo district, Western Uganda, emphasizing that hard work is the remedy for poverty.
