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KAMPALA - President Yoweri Museveni has said he will never allow anybody to lecture him on how to govern Uganda.

He said he has enough experience on how democracy works and how to hold elections, and does not, therefore, need help from the West on the right thing to do.

The President made the remarks on Tuesday, October 24, while speaking during the 4th Youth Business Forum and Expo at Kololo Independence Grounds.

The event was organised by the Parliamentary Youth Forum under the theme “Building Sustainable Strategic Partnerships and Policy Frameworks for Supporting Youth Innovation and Startups."

"They come to tell me how to organise elections; how do you do that to me? I am an expert on elections," the President said amidst thunderous applause from thousands of students that turned up to listen to him.

"How to handle elections? How to handle homosexuals? Please! Please leave me alone," he added.

Museveni said despite his disagreements with them, he "can still work with the Europeans if you are disciplined."

"My problem is that they lack discipline. Somebody comes to your house and says this chair should be here and not there, yet you have come to my house. You should sit where I show you, not giving me instructions on this and that. It is actually bad manners."

He said he has been encouraged by the new leadership at the European Union in Uganda, saying the head of delegation, Jan Sadek, is a "good man."

Museveni's remarks come after a history of sour relations between Uganda and EU for some time. 

In February 2021, President Museveni suspended the activities of Democratic Governance Facility (DGF) accusing its managers of operating such a mega fund without proper government oversight.

Efforts to have the Fund reopened hit a dead end forcing the contributing partners to pull out of the arrangement.

Speaking at the wind-up function at the European Union Ambassador’s residence in Kampala, Sadek said that DGF had done a fantastic job in fostering democracy and accountability in Uganda.

Sadek said everywhere including in Uganda, democracy is under attack and urged the government to embrace dialogue as means of solving political misunderstandings.

He added that while they regret that DGF had wound up, they will continue supporting democratic efforts in Uganda.

DGF, a multi-donor Fund was established in 2011 to properly coordinate donor assistance and activities in Uganda.

The Fund had seven members including Austria, Denmark, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Ireland, and the EU, and together, they had been raising over sh100b that had been used to fund different civil society organisations and government institutions engaged in human rights and good governance activities.