KYOTERA President Museveni has apologised to residents of Kyotera District and regular users of Masaka-Kyotera-Mutukula Road over its persistent sorry state ,blaming it on the poor planning by technocrats in Ministries of Finance and Works and Transport .
Speaking during the 44th Tarehe Sita Day celebrations at Kasasa playground in Kyotera District on Thursday ,Mr Museveni ,said the road is a key route connecting Uganda to the south of the continent which could be left to rot .
“ I apologise for the bad state of your road . We have done many new roads in Uganda, but some people made some mistakes . Why would you build new roads and forget the old ones ?That is why this road deteriorated . That scattered planning has been stopped, I have now ordered them to consolidate the old roads before embarking on new ones ,” the President said
In March last year , the government contracted Chonging International Cooperation (CICO), a Chinese firm at a tune of Shs629b to construct the road ,but work is moving at a snail pace .
Currently, the 89.5km road is in poor shape and motorists from Masaka take close to two hours to connect to Mutukula border post, a journey that used to take 45 minutes before.
The worst part of the road is the section between Kyotera and Mutukula border town which local leaders say has so much trade, especially heavy trucks carrying cargo.
Mr Museveni commended the people of Greater Masaka for embracing coffee growing ,but faulted farmers for paying less attention to their plantations which may affect the yields .
“I used to know you as grasshopper trappers ,but I am happy that you are massively getting out of slumber and now growing coffee at a large scale ,This is promising ,but what is lacking is that , you don’t weed your coffee gardens , I have also realized that you don’t mulch .Please consider those two aspects and also adopt irrigation ,you get more yields ,”the President advised
He said farmers are playing a big role in growing Uganda’s economy which he said is projected grow to $59.3b by June this year .
“We started with $4billion in 1986 as the size of the economy but if you use the purchasing power parity , our economy will grow by $168.5b by June this year .
And after June , our economy will grow by 7.3 percent without considering oil revenue .This is a high speed of growth and very few countries can grow by this speed .However ,when our oil starts to flow ,our economy will grow at double digit ,”
The Chief of Defense Forces Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba slammed the Supreme Court for trimming the powers of the General Court Martial.
On January 24 the Supreme Court nullified “with immediate effect” all ongoing prosecutions of civilians in the General Court Martial and the military courts describing them as unconstitutional before making a raft of recommendations which call for amendment of the Uganda People’s Defense Force (UPDF) Act which set up the military court.
According to the justices of the court, the General Court Martial, the Division Court Martial, and the Court Martial Appeal Court don’t exhibit “independence and fairness” while dispensing justice since they derive their powers from the High Command, yet the Constitution which is the supreme law of the land, demands a fair and impartial trial for every citizen.
But Gen Muhoozi said he was shocked by the Supreme Court ruling and asked the President to act faster on the matter .
“… I will not go into the details , we shall discuss this in the High Command , but Your Excellency ,this development[Supreme Court ruling ] is very unfortunate and quite unacceptable ,it could herald a national security crisis threatening the effective command ,control and administration of the Defense Forces ,we urge Your Excellency to address this matter as soon as you can,”
About next year’s general elections , the CDF ,said the Army will be on the lookout for political actors who are bent on destabilizing the country .
“…..UPDF will be on the watch out of political saboteurs to guarantee peace and security of our people,” he said
He said since his appointed in March 2024 as CDF, has made tremendous work in fighting corruption and improving the welfare of the soldiers .
The Day was marked under the theme “ Celebrating Pan-African Solidarity and the people’s sacrifice in the struggle for freedom and democracy for social-economic transformation”
A total of 41 military officers and civilians were awarded medals for their outstanding contributions towards the development of the country .
Tarehe Sita is marked to remember the first guerrilla attack in 1981 on Kabamba Barracks in Mubende District that culminated into the five-year guerrilla war that eventually brought the ruling National Resistance Army/Movement (NRA/M ) and its leader, Yoweri Museveni to power in 1986.
As a result of hosting this year’s celebrations, many districts in Greater Masaka sub region got a revamp in their infrastructure at selected health centres and schools .
Among the beneficiary institutions include; Ndolo Health Centre II which has been renovated, a new Out Patients Department and a toilet at Kakuuto Health Centre IV and a five stance pit-latrine constructed at Kyassimbi Primary School in Mutukula Town Council in Kyotera DistrictUPDF has also done similar projects in other districts like Masaka, Sembabule ,Kalangala ,Bukomansimbi among others where they have also organised health camps, cleaning towns ,markets and health centres. For example in Sembabule District ,the Army constructed new classrooms at Nabitanga Primary School and Lumegere Primary School with each getting two classrooms while in Kalangala District a new laboratory block has been constructed at Serwanga Lwanga Memorial Secondary School and a new pit latrine erected at Kyagalanyi Landing Site.