President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has issued a stern warning to leaders misleading Ugandans, saying that they should check themselves or he will help them to do so.
According to the President, these leaders divert Ugandans from important issues such as wealth creation.
“I’m really not happy with the people who divert our people’s attention.
I’m tired of the misleaders of our people and they should check themselves or I will check them,” he said.
President Museveni made the remarks on Saturday 2nd November, 2024 while officiating at the thanksgiving ceremony of Hon. Ruth Nankabirwa, who was appointed Canon in the Church of Uganda. Hon. Nankabirwa is the Minister of Energy and Mineral Development.
The ceremony took place at her country home in Ndejje, Luwero District.
According to the President, most leaders have failed to help their people to fight poverty due to their failure to follow and spread the National Resistance Movement (NRM)’s wealth creation message.
“When you come to an area, people tell you we want roads and electricity but from long ago, we told you that all those roads and electricity are what we call development, you can have development, but you still have poverty in your house. Wealth is direct to the home,” he said, adding that places like Ngoma, Kapeeka and neighbouring areas don’t have good roads but most families there are rich, simply because they listened to the NRM’s wealth creation message and undertook commercial agriculture with “ekibaro”.
“They have cows, they sell milk, and they have a lot of money. If I rear pigs here in Nakusibyaki, Nakikonge, Kalasa or Mugogo and I put my pigs on a pickup, the road which I use, even if it’s not tarmacked, can the pigs say that we cannot go to Kampala because the road is not tarmacked?” he inquired.
“The message of the LC1 Chairman confirms what I have been telling you, seek me first the Kingdom of heaven, the rest will be added onto you. When it comes to life on earth, our advice is seek first homestead incomes, the rest will be added onto you.”
President Museveni also castigated leaders who frustrate government programs which are meant to develop the country.
“Now here there’s paralysis. The President can bring up something which he thinks is very crucial but Parliament blocks it. Now the good thing is that I’m a patient person, most of the time I keep quiet, even if I don’t agree with them, I keep quiet,” he said.
The President cited an example when he brought an idea of how to build Bujagali Dam and Parliament blocked it, something which highly affected the country since it ran short of electricity a few months later.
“I kept quiet but very soon the results came. By 2005, we had a shortage of electricity, we even had elections during that load shedding period but because people love NRM, we won all the same,” he recalled.
“When we came back, I called the cabinet first and Parliament, I said please let’s invest more in roads and electricity. If Parliament had not agreed at that time, we were going to have a showdown, so that we can resolve this business of stand-off.”
President Museveni explained that due to his decision at that time, the country now has good roads and enough electricity with a surplus.
President Museveni further justified his move to rationalise what he referred to as parasitic government authorities and agencies.
“Those groups by 2016 were employing 3,905 people and those people were using Shs2.2 trillion. The Ministries were 18,000 people and the army I don’t want to give you the number but a big one. But I can tell you that when the army was smallest in 1991 we had 41,000 soldiers. By this time in 2016, they were more than that. All these (Ministries and the army) were using Shs2.6 trillion,” the President noted.
“Now the third category of Public servants were being paid under the local government, those are the government teachers, health workers, local government administrators, those at that time were 192,000. Those were using Shs 3.5 trillion. Imagine 3,000 people using almost the same amount of the money as all the other thousands of people.”
President Museveni said that by rationalisation, the government will be able to save more money that would be channelled to other developmental programmes.
“Therefore, this standoff must stop. If you want your country to develop, the people you elect must work with the Head of government. We cannot have this permanent paralysis situation,” he urged.
On the other hand, President Museveni congratulated Hon. Nankabirwa for being consecrated as a Canon in the Church of Uganda. The title of Canon is the highest honour conferred upon a lay Christian in the church of Uganda for their previous commitment to serving the faith.
The 15th Kampala Diocesan Synod Meeting held at the Cathedral on Thursday, June 13, 2024, chaired by Archbishop Dr Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu, announced Hon. Dr. Ruth Nankabirwa as Canon in charge of Public Relations.
He also commended her for being supportive and a strong cadre of the NRM who has been spreading the party’s message for some good years. The president appreciates Nankabirwa for being instrumental in fostering politics of interests, especially through discouraging the bad politics of ethnicity and religion.
The ceremony was attended by people from all walks of life, including the third Deputy Prime Minister, Hon. Rukia Isanga Nakadama, senior cabinet ministers, Members of Parliament from Uganda, and those of the East African Legislative Assembly.
Others were former Vice Presidents: H.E Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi and Dr. Specioza Wandira Kazibwe; former Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. John Patrick Amama Mbabazi; former Minister of Foreign Affairs’, Sam Kuteesa; and religious leaders from all denominations and delegations from Kiboga and Luwero districts.
