The lighter side of the State of the Nation address
Jun 07, 2014
The State of the Nation address was not a one-way affair with the President talking like a lecturer to keenly listening students.
By Vision Reporter
KAMPALA - The State of the Nation address was not a one-way affair with the President talking like a lecturer to keenly listening students.
It often turned into an active interactive session with the President throwing jabs at the opposition, and them not letting him have the last word.
All this kept the Speaker Rebecca Kadaga on the edge of her seat, as she often had to interrupt and call for order.
At the start of the session, the President’s statement made no mention of the leader of opposition by way of protocol, forcing the members of the opposition to protest and yell: “What about the Leader of Opposition?” LOP Wafula Oguttu and his Chief Whip Cecilia Ogwal were seated at the front.
Museveni retorted, “I thought I had already mentioned the Right Honorable Leader of Opposition in the category of “Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen”, unless you want to tell me that he is not a distinguished gentleman,” he said, throwing the House into laughter.
Delving into his speech on economic empowerment, he chided some heckling Mps: “I am telling you these facts to get your people out of poverty but because you are here in Parliament earning millions of money, not that I don’t earn the same — I don’t need it. However, when I tell you about your farmers’ predicament and you shout, I don’t get you,” he said, causing applause from the NRM side.
“In this House,” he continued, “there are MPs who listen to this advice and I can tell you their future is bright and those who don’t listen — I don’t know about their future,” causing more laughter.
“If the NRM is a bad performer, you make sure you perform in your constituencies,” he said as NRM MPs applauded. “I developed my area under UPC in the 1960s. So, shut up. We know what we are talking about,” he assured the hecklers.
The President throughout the speech made many biblical allusions, referring to the need for man to sweat for his bread.
However, many Honourable members struggled to earn their bread, as they kept chewing bubble gum, sipping coffee, and clapping sleepily in a bid to stay awake.
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