ENTEBBE.President Yoweri Museveni has assured that nobody will create chaos in Uganda because the National Resistance Movement (NRM) government has all the necessary infrastructure to ensure peace in the country.
The President explained that many of the problems in Africa are caused by parasite groups backed by foreigners who are trying to create violence in countries like Uganda.
“These groups are not part of the wealth creators, they don’t care, that’s why you hear them talking of violence. You can’t start conflicts in your kitchen. Even if you have issues and you want to fight, you go into the compound and fight from there,” he warned.
President Museveni, accompanied by the First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Maama Janet Museveni, made the remarks yesterday during the end of year national prayers held at State House, Entebbe.
He assured that whoever tries to disrupt Uganda’s peace, will end up badly.
“These groups are mainly pushed by foreigners to create chaos which of course will not happen in Uganda.”
President Museveni also cautioned against sectarianism and called for peace, patriotism, Pan-Africanism and socio-economic transformation, describing them as pillars of Uganda’s continued growth.
“I want to congratulate the religious people for forming the Inter-Religious Council, I think they formed it when NRM took over because the NRM rejected the bankruptcy of religious sectarianism. In the past, these religious groups were part of the problems in Uganda and part of the problem of Africa,” he remarked.
According to the President, many African countries have been destroyed because of sectarianism.
“When you come to me and you waste my time with sectarianism of religion or tribe, nkugambirawo sitani nvako [Satan, leave me alone].”
President Museveni also highlighted some of the government’s interventions like the Parish Development Model (PDM) which he said have helped to strengthen the country’s economy.
“We have got the basics here. We have food of all types as you can see, we have many of the industrial products which we used to import, they are now made here, the economy is strong,” he said.
President Museveni further reiterated that corruption undermines service delivery and economic growth.
“When we were preparing for our revolutionary movement, we said let administrators be there but let’s have our own elected people LC1 to LC5, Members of Parliament and all the other elected members. These are the ones to supervise and to watch for the interest of the population so that when the money comes in the area it should not be diverted,” he said.
President Museveni also emphasised the importance of wealth creation as a cornerstone of Uganda’s progress.
“This is an area of wealth creation and I’m very proud to belong to that culture. We depend on our wealth,” he said.
President Museveni further assured Ugandans that the country’s economy was progressing.
“Uganda is moving at a very high rate. I think this year we shall grow at 7 percent and when we start our oil production, we shall grow by double digits more than 10 percent. Therefore, the future is bright and I would like to appeal to everybody to stick to the values,” he noted.
“We need to agree on those values. We the NRM have said patriotism, why? Love Uganda because you need it for your own good, don’t only love your tribe and your religious group because these may not help you so much, Uganda helps you better than the subgroups. Pan-Africanism is number two, love Africa, why? Because you need it for your own prosperity, where would we be selling our cement now if we didn’t have the Pan-African community? And the third is socio-economic transformation.”
On the other hand, he noted that the country is peaceful because of the NRM government’s right ideology.
“We have the infrastructure to ensure that there is peace” he noted.
On her part, Maama Janet thanked God for the peace, freedom of worship and the good climate as well as the natural resources in Uganda.
“Dear Lord, you have brought peace to Uganda, we thank You for the peace we continue to enjoy. We have so much to give thanks to, we thank you Lord for our great climate, natural resources all which contribute to boosting our economy,” she said.
“We thank you Lord for the young people who are the majority in our population, and we give you all the glory and honour for our men in uniform who safeguard our country,” she added.
The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda and Chair of the Council of Presidents for the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU), The Most Reverend Dr. Stephen Samuel Kaziimba Mugalu, appreciated President Museveni and Maama Janet for organizing the event for the nation to thank God.
“I’m so grateful that we are here to give thanks to God; the God who knows our end before the beginning.”
He also preached about integrity and honesty, calling upon Ugandans to always do the right thing even when no one is seeing.
“Do the right thing even when no one is watching you, it brings you glory and when you do good, you feel good, when you feel good, you do good,” he added.
Dr. Joseph Serwadda, the Presiding Apostle of the Born-again faith prayed for peace in Uganda during the upcoming elections.
“Lord, grant our leaders the clarity of thought and guidance, establish peace throughout our communities, calm every restless heart and shield every citizen from harm.”
Pr. Samuel Kajoba the Archbishop of the Seventh- Day Adventist Uganda also prayed for the country.
The Minister for Presidency, Hon. Babirye Milly Babalanda thanked God for strengthening and protecting President Museveni who has steered Uganda’s development.
“I also thank God for Maama Janet who has stood with the President with dignity,” she said.
The function was also attended by the Vice President, H.E Jessica Alupo, ministers, Members of Parliament, members of the diplomatic corps, religious leaders, among other dignitaries.