President Yoweri Museveni has recalled decades of Uganda’s political history, saying many Ugandans had disagreements with former President Milton Obote since 1962 but later began working together on regional unity and African liberation.
Museveni said the collaboration focused on “the realization of the East African Federation and Co-operation and for the liberation of the whole of Africa,” listing Mozambique, Angola, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Namibia, São Tomé, and Guinea-Bissau among the causes.
He noted that Bazilio Bataringaya, a former Democratic Party strongman, had joined Obote by that time. Museveni also highlighted Uganda’s economic performance in 1969, when the economy grew by 11%.
The president said that progress was derailed when “foreigners bring in Idi Amin who had no idea about all these issues.” He stated that Uganda “had to spend 8 years and a lot of deaths in order to solve the problem created for us by others.”
Closing his remarks, Museveni asked current leaders to keep those events in mind during political discussions, and congratulated NRM MPs.
