Former Uganda Medical Association (UMA) president Dr Ekwaro Obuku has backed current association president Dr Samuel Odongo Oledo over his act of public kneeling before President Yoweri Museveni.   

On Saturday, December 3, 2022, Oledo knelt while passing a vote of thanks to President Museveni during the Patriotism for Youth and Investment symposium held at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds in Kampala.

Flanked by a group of over 100 doctors clad in their professional white gowns, Oledo and the doctors went to their knees as he commended President Museveni for enhancing the salaries of the health workers and equipping regional referral hospitals with computed tomography scans. 

Oledo pledged to mobilise the doctors to back the president if he chose to seek another presidential term in 2026. 

However, the act did not go down well with a section of the public and there have been calls on social media for Oledo to resign over 'denigrating the medical profession'.

However, speaking to the media today, December 5, 2022, Obuku said such calls are over the board.

Nothing wrong with the act

Obuku said he sees nothing wrong with what Oledo did. 

He explained that being a leader, Oledo was expressing his gratitude to the President for recent accomplishments made to promises he had made for the medical fraternity.

“The President fulfilled his promise of 2016 that a doctor earning sh1m should earn sh5m. That's the lowest-paid doctor. Kneeling down is what annoyed some people, but it is culturally appropriate in Buganda,” he said.

Ugandans warned

Speaking at the event, President Museveni cautioned people to take their lives seriously in face of the HIV and AIDS scourge that is killing 17,000 Ugandans every year, according to health reports.

He further appealed that to achieve prosperity for all, the four principles of NRM should be taken seriously.

They include patriotism, and pan-Africanism to enable international co-operation for trade based on the strength of United Africa as well as social-economic transformation and democracy.