- Popes visit was blessing, campaigning for NRM is a joy
President Yoweri Museveni has has urged Ugandans to join hands and declare the year 2016, a year of prosperity and of building a strong foundation to secure Uganda’s future.
In a New Year message, the President called on Ugandans to love one another, celebrate our diversity and resist division and stay united to achieve greatness.
“If we love one another, celebrate our diversity, resist division and stay united, we will achieve greatness. Let us all join hands and declare the Year 2016 to be our year of prosperity. The year of building on the strong foundation we have laid to secure Uganda’s future. I wish you a happy and prosperous New Year,” he said
The President who later addressed a press conference at Kisoro State Lodge said he was happy about two this in 2015; the Pope’s visit and the fact that he is campaigning happily for the NRM party.
“The Pope came here, I was not excited but I was happy. His Holiness came here and blessed my people and also blessed me. This is one of the exciting campaigns for the NRM in 2015 especially in the countryside. At the rallies people turn up in large numbers that I find it hard to exit from the next rally. You see these people walking on foot in large numbers. This is because of the small contribution we have made for our country,” he said.
President Yoweri Museveni who is currently in Kisoro soliciting for votes has urged Ugandans to join hands and declare 2016 a year of prosperity, building on strong foundation that has been laid in order to secure the country’s future.
On political lies, Museveni said people aspiring to be public leaders and yet tell lies are bad news for the country.
“Telling lies is worse for the country. A president is next to God you just don’t go around telling lies. When you say you want to be President, but just go around telling lies, that is not good for the country. When I hear people saying veterans are not yet paid, yes I know it, I’m a veteran myself. Why didn’t you pay veterans at one go? It’s because we had to get electricity,” he said.
On whether he received an invitation to the Presidential debate, the President said his staff have not informed him about it.
“I don’t know. My staff have not told me about it (presidential debate suggested by interreligious council). I have four rallies a day, I don’t know about the time. Debating! I have no problem with debating, because I was president of the debating society in 1965,” he said.
On election violence, the President said government will not tolerate civilian to civilian violence.
“The state is there, it should be there to discipline those indiscipline people. When I’m moving around I see FDC people making signs to me, I do this (Thumbs up) to them. Just settle down convince your people. If they vote for you or not just wish them luck,” he said.
On the fight against corruption the President said it will be fought by integrity hunting.
“The Permanent Secretaries should be the watchdog. Initially I didn’t interfere because I thought the system would sort itself. In KCCA you don’t know how much trouble I took to put Musisi, ooh, ooh, ooh. It was a war with Mayor Lukwago, the councilors, but now you can see the change in Kampala,” he said.
The President said the Uganda Revenue Authority Executive Director Doris Akol was fight a war on sub-standard products.
“The country had been turned into a cheap market of all sorts of useless things from abroad. When the shilling was losing value it was because of importation of all sorts of things. Imagine someone importing hair. My daughters, all this hair you import from abroad is for what? You’re killing our market with some other people’s goods which are not being taxed,” he said.
President Museveni said that the strategic goals of the people of Uganda and their African brothers and sisters should be, prosperity and strategic security. He pointed out that the prosperity aimed at is through production and not through parasitism.
He highlighted NRM achievements especially from 2006 when government resisted spending on consumption in favor of development and wealth creation. He said through prioritization,
the NRM government has been able to implement special programs like roads, electricity, education and health as well as successfully implementing immunization program among others.
He castigated presidential aspirant like Kiiza Besigye who chose to visit a hospital not yet rehabilitated and lying to the public and not pointing out the many other hospitals that the NRM government has rehabilitated.
