The President of the Republic of Senegal, H.E Macky Sall has described his Ugandan counterpart, H.E Yoweri Kaguta Museveni as a freedom fighter who has made a lot of sacrifices to ensure peace and security reigns in Uganda, East Africa and the entire African continent.
“The old people have a lot of experience, a lot of knowledge and a lot of things to share that is why we come to you for experience. As a freedom fighter, all what you are doing your entire life is fighting for Africa. When we got independence, we didn’t know what to do, but the sacrifices of our old people who struggled for our independence helped us to get a lot of freedom. President Museveni is one of these leaders in Africa,” President Macky Sall expounded.
The Senegalese leader made the remarks today during a press briefing at State House Entebbe. He is in Uganda on a two-day official visit (18th- 19th July, 2023) on the invitation of President Museveni.
Prior to the Press briefing, President Macky Sall was received by H.E Museveni at State House-Entebbe and the two Heads of State held bilateral talks during which matters of bilateral, continental and international interest were discussed. He was accompanied by a delegation consisting of Ministers, and Senior Government Officials.
President Macky Sall also thanked Gen. Museveni for his good leadership and asserted that his visit was consistent with the traditional African hospitality.
He however underscored the need for the two countries to strengthen their bilateral cooperation in the areas of trade, security and intelligence among other sectors.
“What does Uganda produce in excess so that it can export it to Senegal? For example, in Senegal we import things from New Zealand and Brazil. We import powdered milk from these countries. We need to see how we can come and buy your milk,” H.E Macky Sall suggested.
We also produce a lot of things in Senegal, we produce a lot of ground nuts, we don’t know whether Ugandans like ground nuts. There are therefore a lot of possibilities to exchange ideas. In the world and Africa, there are many subjects we can cooperate on, including security. Uganda exports security in many places. It can be made a valuable export product,” he added.
The visiting Head of State condemned the recent attack and killing of innocent students in Kasese and expressed his condolences to the parents, the community of Kasese and Ugandans in general. He expressed the need to continue with the fight against terrorism across the continent.
“The experience in East Africa for example could inspire us and also inspire all other African countries. In West Africa, yes, there are a lot of terrorism activities in the Sahel zone and the Lake Chad area. Different groups terrorize people and nations. We must work together and mutualize our common understanding of this problem and also put together our resources to fight it. We must examine our ways including intelligence and why not adopt symmetric measures to have them established?” he wondered.