Alfred Wasike
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has warned his younger brother, Gen. Salim Saleh, the new microfinance minister, against getting into trouble again.

Museveni said this at a ceremony where he launched an association for widows and orphans of the Uganda armed forces.

The association, Vumilia (Kiswahili for persevere) Uganda, was launched in Kampala on Thursday night.

Saleh, the Vumilia Uganda patron, has featured in controversies in the past. However, delivering the state of the nation address, Museveni said there was no evidence against Saleh to warrant prosecution.

“I know Saleh is very close to wananchi but he should be close to the law. I advise Saleh not to get into new problems. Let him follow what the Government says. We don’t want our new minister to get into new problems,” Museveni said, triggering prolonged applause from hundreds of guests, including senior UPDF officers and ministers at Sheraton Hotel.

“But I want to thank him very much because he has the talent of being close to wananchi. He does not shun wananchi. He is very popular with wananchi. It is a rare talent,” Museveni said.

An excited Saleh urged the audience, “Let us give the President a very big clap for appointing me a minister to eradicate poverty. Your Excellency, I am not going to ask you to put money forward but I request you to authorise me as minister to deal with this situation. I promise that I will handle it to your satisfaction.”

He said an impromptu fundraiser had realised sh37m. The Vumilia Uganda chief, Toni Bamwesigye Kamwesiga, said her organisation, incorporated in 2006, had mobilised more than 3,000 members in 20 districts. She put at 60,000 the number of widows and orphans of soldiers nationwide. A smiling Museveni, who donated sh10m to Vumilia, said, “I know your problems. You have been living in bad conditions. We tried to improve your lives but your entitlements were not enough.”

He blamed what he called inadequate cadreship. “The few cadres have been in combat while others like their husbands have died. But from 1994, I took a deliberate move to massively recruit young people thereby rebuilding our cadreship,” he said. He also blamed their failure to work together.

“The other problem was yourselves because you did not want to work together...those individualistic, anarchic tendencies among Ugandans retard progress,” he said. “But thank you for finally coming to work together. You are more powerful this way. I suggested this unity in 1995,” Museveni said.

Museveni assured them that with their new-found unity, they could access a revolving fund but repeatedly warned that they must pay back.

“You must pay back. Don’t say that I am a Movement supporter or I voted for Museveni or I am the widow of afande so-and-so when the time to pay comes,” he cautioned, prompting cheers.

He pledged education, medical care and other facilities to the widows and their children. After watching a new documentary on the NRA bush war heroes, Museveni said, “You have helped preserve our history. I started history and planning departments but the people I appointed never took up their jobs because there was nothing to steal.”
Ends