Shun sectarianism â€" Museveni

Sep 08, 2009

PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has asked Ugandans to desist from sectarianism, to love their country and if necessary, sacrifice for it so as to foster prosperity.

By Frederick Kiwanuka

PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has asked Ugandans to desist from sectarianism, to love their country and if necessary, sacrifice for it so as to foster prosperity.

“The reason you should love Uganda, is that it is in your interest and when you love Uganda, you don’t think in terms of sectarianism,” Museveni said on Sunday while commissioning 907 students of Ndejje University in Luweero district. The group had completed a three-week cadres’ course.

Museveni, who flew in from Soroti, where he attended the consecration of Bishop George William Erwau, said those ‘who fish the line’ of sectarianism were acting against the interests of Ugandans.

He said Ugandans needed each other and their East African neighbours to foster prosperity, regardless of tribe, political or religious backgrounds.

“For example, when a person comes to buy goods from your shop, he doesn’t have to tell you what his totem is. You welcome everybody because they are fostering your prosperity,” he explained.

Museveni said egocentric interests should be discouraged, adding that security and economic advancement should be accorded priority if Uganda is to follow in the footsteps of other developed countries.

He cited the example of the Ankole sub-region that produces milk while Kampala city provides the market for the milk, saying such a relationship provided a harmonious co-existence.

Museveni said Uganda needs East Africa and Africa in general, so as to expand market access.

He urged the students to concentrate on their studies and avoid drinking alcohol and getting infected with AIDS, saying the human body is the temple of God.

“When you drink alcohol, you are violating the temple of the Lord. Your body should not become an incubator for AIDS because it will cease to be God’s temple,” he counselled.

Museveni, who does not drink alcohol, said: “I am 65 years old, but when you bring football here, you cannot leave me behind. That is because I have not wasted my body. I have no time for alcohol.”

He encouraged Ugandans to seek information on the evolution of man and his superiority over other creatures.
He stated that his government would modernise the country through scientific farming practices.

Museveni, who had earlier on performed a ground-breaking ceremony for a new building complex that will house the Faculty of Science at Ndejje main campus, thanked the founders of the university for venturing into science programmes.

He said the Government would support the Faculty of Engineering, which has been established.

The vice-chancellor, Dr. Michael Sennyimba, had earlier on thanked Government for granting a charter to Uganda’s oldest private university.

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