President Yoweri Museveni (pictured herding his cows) has spoken out about the recent shameful conduct witnessed during the recent NRM primaries, describing the incidents as the most annoying to the patriots.
Museveni said tribal chiefs must stand condemned historically for continuing to be agents of weakness for Africa by continuing to preach parochialism in the form of tribal chauvinism when the enemies of Africa were acting on a global scale, building colonial Empires that spread over continents for their benefit and to our disadvantage and even peril.
The President notes that NRM politics concentrates on the politics of livelihood (wealth) and jobs for the people.
“Identity is important; but it cannot be more important than livelihoods and jobs.
Identity without peace, without wealth, without jobs and without development (roads, railways, schools, health centers etc.), is hell, if not death,” Museveni says in his latest dossier.
He adds: “Countries that are lured by enemies into that disorientation, end up with disaster. You want examples? Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, Somalia etc. Opportunists and their foreign backers emphasized identity and they reaped incredible death and disintegration. That is how Uganda had become. Yet, when you are clever, you can protect identities of People without interfering with, or indeed promoting, the Politics of wealth, jobs and development that are captured in the four principles of: Patriotism, Pan-Africanism, social- economic transformation and democracy, that are the principles of the NRM.”
He says Patriotism and Pan- Africanism consolidate and expand the purchasing power and market of the Africans to support the prosperity of the Africans: wealth, jobs and development.
“The more you sell of the products and services you produce, the wealthier you become, the more jobs you create, the more revenue you generate for the Govt and the more development can the Govt deliver in the form of roads, the railways, Schools, health Centres, wealth funds, welfare support etc. All modern Countries, have developed and become rich by selling a lot. If you do not sell, you cannot grow. Therefore, the major element of our politics should be about markets. Any leader who does not see this, is a danger to the future of Africa, Uganda included.”
Therefore, in the last 500 years, Museveni adds, the biggest enemies of Africa are those that have been pushing Sectarian chauvinism – tribal, religious or gender (looking down on women), whether they do it consciously or unconsciously.
“It is against this enemy line, that the NRM objected to, starting in 1965. Instead of identity, we emphasized interests of the People: peace, wealth, jobs, health, education, infrastructure (roads, the railways etc.) etc., etc. Hence, as already said, the four NRM principles: Patriotism, Pan-Africanism, Social – economic transformation and democracy. Patriotism and Pan-Africanism ensure strategic security and the integration of the markets that will absorb our products as we expand production from the 4 wealth and jobs creation sectors of: Commercial agriculture with ekibaro, factories (big and small), services (hotels, transport, banking, insurance, entertainment etc. etc.) and ICT,” he says.
He adds: “It is because of this re-orientation of the diagnosis of social and historic phenomena in Uganda, that our Country was able to come up to where it is now. On account of the ideological re-orientation and the new direction set by the NRM, Uganda has been able to recover.”
