Political affiliation shouldn't divide Ugandans - Amuriat

Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party president Patrick Amuriat has told Ugandans that there is no need to hate each other because of differing political views.

"There is no need of fighting your brother or your sister because he/she is in FDC, UPC, NRM or DP," Amuriat said.

He said that instead, all parties including those members in NRM who are not happy with the way the country is being run should unite.

Amuriat was on Saturday speaking to residents of Rwanshetsya in Kyamuhunga sub-county, Bushenyi district, at the home of Paul Kahiigi Turyamureba the former Bushenyi district FDC chairman.

Amuriat together with the former FDC party president Dr Kiiza Besigye visited the family of Kahiigi to express their sympathy and also console the family over the death of their mother Gertrude Batangaire who was laid to rest on March 8. She succumbed to cancer at Mbarara Referral Hospital.

Amuriat and Besigye laid a wreath on the deceased's tomb and planted trees in memory of Batangaire.

Amuriat said Uganda's challenge is poor leadership which he said has failed to address the basic needs of citizens.

"Her death tells a lot of volumes of the situation of our hospitals. The doctors in government hospitals can only tell you what you are suffering from but they can't help you," Amuriat said.

Earlier, Kahiigi said while at Mbarara Referral Hospital they bought 90%, of the things they needed including drugs from outside the hospital.

"We spent over sh40m on purchasing drugs, doing scans, x-rays yet we were in a government referral hospital," Kahiigi said.

He called upon the government to spread the billions of money which government plans to invest in constructing a mega-hospital in Lubowa, to strengthening regional referral hospitals first.

Amuriat told the people of Igara West that their area MP Raphael Magezi is to blame for prolonging the country's problem when he was at the forefront of the presidential age limit from the Constitution.

"People all know Igara West now for the bad reason of Magezi," he said. Amuriat recalled how Magezi was a nice guy at the time he joined parliament stressing that, "he presented a lot of hope to the people of Uganda but he must be asked what went wrong to the Magezi of that time."

Besigye said the country has been mismanaged, adding that it is now in the hands of a few individuals while the majority are languishing in suffering.