Published on 30/08/2024
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni promised Northern Uganda that he will swiftly address the long-standing issue of compensating war claimants bringing hope to the affected communities.
“I will call a meeting and discuss with area Members of Parliament, Ministers and elders in the area. I heard that some of the money was initially taken by lawyers; so many problems but we are committed,” Museveni said.
He made the commitment while opening the regional plenary sittings at the Kaunda Grounds in Gulu City on Thursday, 29 August 2024.
According to the Deputy Attorney General, Jackson Kafuuzi, Shs2 trillion is required for compensation of war claimants in Northern and Eastern Uganda, West Nile and Elgon sub regions.
Museveni, however, said that whilst he will tackle the matter, it is time for the people of Northern Uganda to get out of the hangover of the war, a region that was ravaged by the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels for close to two decades.
“Many parts of the country have gone through war; Masaka, Mbarara and the Luwero war that lasted five years. Some of these ministers have been with me when I went to Luweero, it has recovered,” he said.
President Museveni reiterated that the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF) was able to restore peace and security in Northern Uganda and the rest of the country through ideology.
“We believe in individual responsibility, you cannot blame a group because of a mistake of one member of that group and we do not believe in sectarianism,” said Museveni.
He further said that discipline of the army and appropriate budgeting for security have played a role in pacification of the country.
“We plan according to our small budget, that is why when we are building the army we start with personnel and weapons, that is how we have been managing,” Museveni said.
To increase the literacy levels in Northern Uganda and the whole country, the President rallied MPs to focus on successful implementation of Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Universal Secondary Education (USE).
“I recently met with religious leaders about schools and one of the issues is school charges. Government since 1996 has been pushing for free education but others are pushing for charges, leading to street children,” Museveni said.
He urged MPs to identify budgetary gaps, if any, in the implementation of UPE and USE and bring them to his attention.
“If there are unmet costs, bring them, you are MPs. You come and we budget and we provide free education for children in government schools,” said Museveni.
Another crucial infrastructure that requires attention in Northern Uganda and the whole country according to President Museveni is health, wherein he said MPs play an important role in the supervision of health centers.
“We have health centre III’s in all sub counties because most of the sicknesses can be dealt with. Where the problem is theft of drugs, you [MPs] represent constituencies, if you supervise with your networks, why would the curative side not work,” Museveni asked.
Museveni took the opportunity to highlight the success registered by government in promoting immunisation of children against killer diseases, saying that this has led to a revolution in population growth.
“What if we added other measures like nutrition. Food is there but people do not know what to eat. The radios are there but only used to abuse Museveni, the health officers do not tell them what to eat and yet some of the diseases are caused by malnutrition,” Museveni said.
The President underscored the need to tackle issues affecting the country systematically, saying that they cannot all be resolved at ago.
“This is what we should be clear about. The voters know, they are not children. If it took God six days to create the world, who are you to finish in one day. I appeal to the voters and to you people,” he said.
