President Museveni has warned politicians tribalising the rationalisation of state agencies, saying it is criminal to do so.
The president sounded the warning while addressing the nation on Thursday night.
“The most shameful part was those who were tribalising the effort. It is criminal to do so.”
During the passing into law the National Coffee Amendment Bill 2024 on Wednesday, the Leader of the Opposition, Joel Ssenyonyi, asked Speaker Among to consider recusing herself from handling the Coffee Bill, citing the remarks she made during the heated discussion of the National Coffee Amendment Bill last week, in which she asked to ensure that the Baganda don’t get the numbers that would see the Bill go for the second reading.
In his speech, Museveni said that within the principle of socio-economic transformation, the NRM government maintained the mass line rather than the elite line of only serving the few and forgetting the many.
“We formed FRONASA/NRA/NRM in the 16 years between 1971 and 1986; nevertheless, in all that time we always tried to engage all the political groups to see whether we could not form the widest possible alliance to help us transform Uganda.”
He said Point 5 of the Ten-Point Programme talked of building an independent, integrated, self-sustaining economy linked both vertically and horizontally.
He said the Ugandan economy was US dollars 3.9 billion in 1986, and it is now US dollars 55 billion. It has been growing at the rate of 6.3% per year for the last 38 years. “We are now a lower middle-income country with a GDP per capita of US dollars 1,154.”
He said phase five has been the introduction of the knowledge economy that is not just based on the mere processing of raw materials but the greater use of science and skills.
“This is where the automobiles industry is, the vaccine making, the assembling and manufacturing of computers and computer parts; that’s where they come in.”
Museveni said despite obstructions by the parasites, the uninformed, and the traitors, the government has done exactly that.
“The groups that have been misinforming the public recently about the parasitic agencies that we are rationalizing, especially coffee, are a disgrace to the country. I even feel embarrassed to participate in the controversy.”
He added: “It’s good, however, that they have come out and said that Museveni will be stealing the coffee if UCDA is abolished. UCDA is now abolished. We shall now see which coffee Museveni will steal. If there will be no coffee stolen by Museveni, as there will be no coffee stolen, the people of Uganda must realise the shallowness of these groups and punish them politically.”
According to him, Uganda is not like Japan or South Korea where the main and sometimes, only resource is a skilled population that they use to manufacture cars, etc.
He said Uganda has both human and natural resources and shall use them to create prosperity for the people.
“Regarding Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) and National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS), I know that they were doing no work or little work because in 2013 when I launched Operation Wealth Creation (OWC) in Nakaseke, a whole 68% of the homesteads in Uganda were still in subsistence farming,” he explained.
“These side agencies: UNRA and UCDA were temporary measures that I accepted at the beginning of our government, mainly because of the low pay for our public servants and their low enthusiasm and motivation for work. The logic was that, for particular projects, to ensure implementation, create a side group outside the public service, pay them well, and facilitate them well so that the project is implemented.”
He said the research scientists at Kawanda, Kituza, Serere, etc, and the leaders have been working for low salaries for most of this time while others (in these agencies) were being paid high salaries.
“These scientists were getting low salaries, and we the political actors, the freedom fighters, we of FRONASA NRA/NRM always work for patriotism and not money.”
