{KOLOLO. Stepping outside protocol, President Museveni carried his own umbrella and took to the dance floor to mingle with his supporters, who endured a downpour as he addressed his first post-nomination rally as he seeks re-election next year.}
In a country where public officials often have escorts to hold their umbrellas and other things, the image of a president standing in the open and struggling to keep his own head dry was poignant. This episode came exactly two days after the NRM flag-bearer in 2016 the presidential race, criticised haughty leaders at a State House meeting.
While the NRM supporters, who swarmed Kololo Independence Grounds were delighted by President’s humility, some Opposition leaders however, said the NRM leader was attempting to cultivate a man-of-the-people image ahead of next year’s general election.
In his inaugural campaign speech, witnessed by thousands of NRM supporters, who painted Kololo yellow, the official party colour, Mr Museveni put emphasis on steady progress, prosperity, security for all and promised if elected, to lay out a broad package of ideas next year to tackle unemployment and fix the health sector.
Highlighting two crucial points in NRM manifesto, the NRM leader who was duly nominated by Electoral Commission yesterday, singled out prosperity, which he said cannot be achieved unless certain obstacles have been removed and national security guaranteed.
“We removed sectarianism and united the country; brought peace and stability after years of turmoil and introduced free education for all,” Mr Museveni said. “We have solved the problem of power shortages, worked on roads and telephones have increased from 28,000 in 1986 to 18 million to date.”
He added: “I wanted education for all, especially in rural areas but some people are still charging you (parents). We have built a foundation through prioritisation that will help us deal with the remaining obstacles to prosperity such as inadequate funding to agriculture and salaries for public servants among others.”
Taking pride in numbers, even when the development experts blame the unemployment crisis on the big population, Mr Museveni, however, crowed how the NRM government has increased the population from 14 million in 1986 to 38 million to date.
He also said before his regime, many Ugandans never used to marry because of insecurity and that many children were dying of polio and other treatable diseases.
“The NRM government has removed most of the obstacles to prosperity and these days, it’s very hard to find a Ugandan with polio,” Mr Museveni said.
Mr Museveni, however, acknowledged that the health sector still needs more funding to improve service delivery. He asked Ugandans to supplement immunisation with hygiene, nutrition, avoid contracting HIV/Aids and sleep in insecticide- treated nets to combat malaria.
Mr Museveni asked Ugandans to vote him, promising to invest in productive sectors to create jobs.
He singled out agriculture, roads, providing venture capital support to youths’ small and medium businesses and maintaining peace and stability.
The President said security provides a firm foundation for all the other livelihood sectors to thrive.
“We are not jokers, we are serious people and our policy is prioritisation. We have started tackling the problem of youth unemployment by attracting investors. We are building new factories in Gayaza, Mukono, Matugga and Mbarara and other areas across the country,” Mr Museveni said.
DAILY MONITOR
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