President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, known for his spot-on guidance to the nation, once again communicated unforgettable sweet guidance in his Easter message. The Head of State, who was at his county home in Kiruhura, Western Uganda said he had just been dipping his herds to rid them of disease-causing ticks. He congratulated his subjects for surviving the calamities that befell the country in the last couple of years, especially corona and Ebola. He underscored NRM’s capacity to guide the country to safety in the face of any calamity provided they can adhere to the rules advanced.
“Mukulike Corona, ebola (congratulations on surviving Corona and ebola). Also, congratulations for surviving other problems, such as the high commodity prices etc., hardships notwithstanding. As I always tell you, if you maintain peace and listen to the guidance of the NRM, there is no obstacle, we cannot overcome.” He wrote.
In a message of economic optimism, General Museveni revealed that the economy is expanding both quantitatively and qualitatively. He illustrated this trend with five examples which are: coffee, milk and tea, cotton and science and innovation.
Coffee production in 1986 was only 2 million, 60kg bags; being produced has now jumped to 8.5 million bags, targeting hitting 12 million bags soon. Tea, he says was 3 million kgs in 1986, moving to 60 million kgs whereas Milk which was a mere 200 million litres per annum; has hit a 5.3bn litres per um mark. The portion that comes to the factories, is 3.6bn litres. On our cotton, the president revealed it is no longer being exported as just lint cotton but rather processed into ready outfits like “the shirts I put on,”
The fifth example the president gave, is that of Kiira Motors, where the Uganda Scientists supported by, sometimes, government funding, are addressing the issue of Electric- mobility by making electric cars, buses, among others
Based on the above, he noted that “there is nothing that we aim at, that we cannot achieve” with the only delaying factors being “the phenomenon of the parasitism by some careerist politicians and civil servants (abakola kipakasi) and introduce corruption in the process of implementing government programmes such as PDM, Emyooga, micro-finance etc.”These, he indicated that should not be tolerated and will not be tolerated. Otherwise, the sky is the limit.
Taking us through the country along history, the president talked of unpatriotic, parasitic civil servants and extension service workers in the colonial era who involved themselves in corruption tendencies for self gains.
These parasites, the president says have been joined by politicians after independence unlike before independence where the few politicians that were around, such as IK Musaazi, had no access to power (decision-making), hence, they had no opportunity to be corrupt or otherwise.
The president further noted that the list of wealth creators has now lengthened to include: cattle-keepers, crops farmers, artisans, fishermen, manufacturers, traders, service providers, building contractors, etc., etc, it’s shameful for the leaders to betray the lot subjects by stealing from them, taking bribes in exchange for service delivery according to the President.
“All these wealth creators are suffering because of the parasites in the form of some corrupt civil servants and politicians. However, this suffering is artificial. It is because the victims of corruption do not report. If they report, the corrupt will be crashed.”
General Museveni faults leaders and civil servants frustrating wealth creation efforts by harassing foreign investors and other service providers by asking for bribes. He appeals to the general public to just report if at all we are to do away with this vice. The war according to Muaeveni is between “the genuine wealth creators (farmers, manufacturers, fishermen, service providers) on the one hand and the parasites in the form of some corrupt civil servants, now joined by some politicians who sell decisions for bribes.”
Absorbed in a lump sum, the President’s message is a direct call to action for every Ugandan to take part in the transformation process of the country. Leaders, both political and in public service are particularly called upon to take the lead in facilitating an enabling environment for social economic transformation. The emphasis in the communique was indirectly on patriotism. If all people executed their mandates with love for their country, incidences of treachery by the very people charged with supervising public resources.
Therefore, the message contained in this brief Easter address is an “unputtable” down one for every public servant. Not even the sky will be the limit for us if we accept to take charge of our country’s economic destiny.
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