
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has outlined eight (8) essential factors of success for Uganda and the wider Africa.
Officiating at the 61st National Independence Day Celebrations held in Kitgum District today, President Museveni said the main theme of his speech was derived from the Book of Common Prayer of 1662 of the Church of Uganda which says “They left undone what they ought to have done and they did that they ought not to have done and there is no truth in them”. He said the Scripture describes well the many situations in the world, especially in Africa.
The ceremony ran under the theme: “Sustaining a United and Progressive Nation: Taking Charge of Our Future as a Free Nation”.
“Today on the 61st celebration of Uganda’s Independence, it is crucial to restate again the essential ingredients of success for Uganda and maybe the wider of Africa. So, if we are not going to be like those people whom the prayer book talks about, what should we emphasize?” President Museveni noted.
The President said the first crucial ingredient is rejecting the pseudo-ideology of emphasizing the politics of identity and instead emphasizing the politics of interests.
“While we recognize and respect the respective identities of our People (religion, tribes, gender), we insist that to ensure the economic and social prosperity of our People, we must not forget their needs (food, jobs, market for their products, sources of raw materials for their industries, shelter, etc.). Our people need the supra-tribal Ugandan market and the Pan-African market, for their products to ensure their prosperity,” he expounded.
“Hence, the two principles of the NRM of patriotism and Pan-Africanism. Otherwise, we have told you, repeatedly, we shall build a Latin America in Africa instead of building a United States of Africa in Africa. You all watch on TV channels, the misery of the Latin American populations, walking on foot fleeing man-made poverty in their respective Countries, their tremendous natural resources (the rivers, the forests, the minerals, the good climate for some of them, the ancient heritage of indigenous Indian Peoples, etc.) and culture notwithstanding, to the man-made affluence in the USA simply because the latter (the USA) emphasized integration while the former (Latin America) emphasized fragmentation.”
The President explained that emphasizing the four principles of the NRM which include patriotism, Pan-Africanism, Social-economic transformation, and democracy, creates adequate space for guaranteeing the prosperity of the Wealth creators (the farmers, the artisans, the manufacturers, and, the services groups), by giving them a big enough market and also, by expunging sectarianism which act helps them in building strong national institutions such as the Army, that guarantees our security.