By Spy Uganda
Entebbe: President Yoweri Museveni has said that there is a need for African countries to unite for the sake of the continent’s security. He made the remarks on Wednesday at State House, Entebbe when he delivered a lecture on opportunities to a 17-man delegation of Officers from the New Delhi National Defense College. The delegation was led by Brigadier Anil Pundir.
Museveni addressed the participants with particular reference to the evolution of mankind and its development in Africa. He also highlighted the evolving situation over the India – Uganda relationship stand.
The President said that countries must be formed into units that will ensure Africa’s security citing that strategic security must be addressed. “By being sectarian, you fight against those who would provide you with a market for your goods and services, Mr. Museveni affirmed.”
He informed the delegation that when Idi Amin chased Indians out of Uganda it created a big shortage of commodities. However, when the NRM Government took over power, Indians were invited to return and other measures were taken to attract more investors to improve the economy. “This contributed towards our prosperity”.
President Museveni called on the African population to always think of Africa as a united continent. He observed that this calls for the promotion of the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA). He noted that social-economic transformation was a fundamental factor of development, pointing out that democracy was a sure case for attaining prosperity.
He informed his attentive guests that under-population has been Africa’s problem. He noted that in 1960 the continent had a population of 400 million, however, today this figure has tripled to 1.2 billion people.
He also informed his guests that the continent has got four language groups, namely the Niger-Congo, the Nilo Saharan, Afro-Asiatic and the Bushmen of South Africa and was pleased to note that Africa has got Kiswahili as its neutral language. He reiterated that language was very important for the future growth of the continent.
President Museveni said that Africa was mismanaged by the traditional chiefs and was highly manipulated by the colonialists. He said that for the case of Uganda, a new group of students emerged in the 1960s which played a leading role in correcting the mistakes of the previous leaders. He said that this group addressed the issues pertaining to the prosperity of the country noting that their view was that one becomes prosperous only by producing goods or services and having a buyer.
President Museveni later responded to some questions. On the issue of the disturbed World Order, he said that this was due to ideological, philosophical and domination mistakes. He reminded the soldiers that a war must be just in order to achieve durable results. He said that this was an opportunity for Uganda to work with India toward solving the global challenges.
The Indian High Commissioner to Uganda, H.E. Shri Kumar said that the visit of the military officers was a symbol of deep bilateral relations between the two countries. He was pleased to note that India has been training 40 Ugandans per year in various fields.
