As Uganda prepares for 2011 elections, many voters are looking for leaders who will help them get out of poverty and become more economically empowered on a sustainable basis.

MPs are sometimes like ATMs expected to give free money for the voters' school fees, weddings, funeral/burial arrangements, and their constituency projects. Can our MPs sustain such spending without becoming poor themselves, immoral, and/or easier to corrupt?

This presents social/micro- franchising as a proven poverty reduction strategy for our challenged MPs. Social franchising is the adapted duplication of successful business models with the aim of causing maximum social transformation within a given community.

Our MPs can use the Ushs10 m ($5000) Constituency Development Fund in a more competitive way through social franchising because of the proven win-win approach of franchising. The MP/social franchiser can use 75% of that money to create and develop 1-3 simple franchiseable business models to be owned and successfully run by social franchisees from his/her constituency hence empowering such voters on a more sustainable basis while saving the Shs2.5m for personal use.

Such initiatives can further be duplicated into the neighbouring constituencies and other parts of the country and region in a mutually-beneficial way for the MP and the social-franchisees.

Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Prize Winner once said that "People are capable of getting out of poverty. They are not waiting for charity or handouts. Charity is good, but it is not enough. It is better to turn the charity money into a business proposition that can run on its own Steam".

The voters cannot get out of poverty through mere charity, donations, and micro-credit through their area MPs. Micro-credit provides the finance for the people to open small businesses through the MFIs and SACCOs. But only a few of the motivated people in the MP's area have the necessary entrepreneurship abilities to start and manage successful businesses.

Social franchising can financially empower the voters to start and successfully run their own social-cum-business enterprises in a safer, faster, more flexible, adaptable, and more sustainable way hence reducing the burden on the MPs' personal finances.

Let our MPs, NGOs and the likes of Uganda Change Agents Association-UCAA look at social franchises like the "Community-Owned Franchises for Youth" ("COFFY"). Youth are developed into self-reliant entrepreneurs who start and operate "turnkey", age-appropriate social enterprises. They can sell leading brands of consumer goods (FMCGs) like Samona Products to the youths/women within their communities.

An aspiring or current MP can approach a brand like Stanbic Bank (the social franchiser) to create a social franchise of selected youths (franchisees) to market the bank throughout his/her constituency. The bank can then competitively expand its village or school fees banking through the youths while enabling the youths become economically empowered. This also reduces on the congestion at the bank's town branches creating more space for corporate banking.

Simpler business ideas like soap making, bakery, events catering, fresh food retailing, cleaning and maintenance, and restaurants are also suitable for social franchising.

The MP provides a socially franchiseable brand, high quality initial and on-going training, franchisee support, low-cost financing, and the market access through a win-win partnership with the voters. These social franchisees/voters become socio-economically empowered to exploit the many opportunities from our EA Common Market.

As the social enterprise enjoys more brand recognition and loyalty, economies of scale, duplicability, more youths/franchisees are economically-empowered.