Bitamazire chats with AVSI officials, Filippo Ciantia (left) and Dr. Arturo Alberti

By Joyce Namutebi

THE First Lady, Mrs. Janet Museveni, has vowed to continue advocating for sexual abstinence and faithfulness in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

She noted that the message of sexual abstinence and faithfulness had made her unpopular in certain quarters.

“But to be true to myself, as a mother and as a believer in Jesus Christ, I am prepared to continue advocating for these values,” Mrs. Museveni assured.

She said she has always maintained that condoms have their place in the struggle against the pandemic because there are categories of adults who are exposed to risk through their lifestyles.

“For this category of people, change may be too late. But we cannot give up on our children and the young people by simply trusting the condom for protection,” Mrs. Museveni said.

This was contained in a speech read by the Minister of Education and Sports, Namirembe Bitamazire, at the opening of a mainhall at the AVSI’s Permanent Centre for Education in Luzira, Kampala recently.

AVSI is an international non-governmental organisation founded in Italy in 1972.

It has been working in Uganda since 1984.

Mrs. Museveni said it was important to train children to value and respect themselves and their colleagues, and to acquire the virtues of patience and self-control.

“Failure to abstain and to be faithful is a reflection of a bigger problem — the failure to love.” She said.

Mrs. Museveni noted that people who are promiscuous never learnt the value of self-control. She added that lack of discipline makes people likely to abuse alcohol and other substances.

“There is no condom against alcohol, substance abuse or corruption. There is no condom to protect us against life. The condom to protect us against the hazards of life is self-discipline, respect and value of God-given life,” Mrs. Museveni said.

Bitamazire stressed the importance of creating the concept of “life long learning” and improving the quality of education using all the available approaches.