Museveni praises Ugandan unity and progress at 43rd Tarehe Sita anniversary

“I thank you very much the people of Uganda; when we brought our ideas, you accepted them because if you didn't accept, we would have been isolated,” he said.

The President, who was in the company of the First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Maama Janet Museveni, made the remarks during the 43rd Tarehe Sita Anniversary Celebrations held at Busesa Grounds, Bugweri District.

The celebrations ran under the theme 'celebrating the People's Struggle for Unity, Security and Peace for Socio-economic Transformation'.

According to President Museveni, due to the correct ideas of the NRM government, the economy of the country has progressively grown.

“That is why the economy has grown so much but it could grow more if we get rid of corruption. You must fight the corrupt people and also fight the ones who don't care,” he said.

“On the side of security, we are going to tighten it. We have a strong army, the police, Prisons and intelligence services as well as the Uganda Wildlife Authority, they are all very capable and educated. We started the culture of recruiting educated people in the army, now because of that these army people learn very quickly so it is very easy for us to build a strong force.”

President Museveni also disclosed that Uganda has a very good working relationship with the governments of Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and DRC, adding that as partners, they are working towards achieving a regional solution to deal with the regional security problems.

“I'm glad the delegation of Algeria is here; these people have got very good technology. When I visited them, they gave me some samples," he said. "I want to buy more to simplify security. Like for instance, you have seen how cameras work, we are now going to introduce electronic vehicle number plates so that we don't waste time with investigations."

President Museveni further lauded the people of Busoga for taking part in the NRA/M struggle that enabled the current government to come into power.

“I salute the people of Busoga who participated in our struggles and sacrifice. The people who were getting medals here today comprised some of the children of the people who were killed by Idi Amin. Idi Amin executed in public; here in Jinja by firing squad,” he asserted.

“However, I want you Ugandans to know that our liberation was not by ourselves only and I'm very happy to have a delegation from Tanzania; Mwalimu Nyerere helped us a lot in training, equipment, even he committed the Tanzanian army to fight Idi Amin. The other country which helped us was Mozambique so when you talk about history, talk about it properly.”

The Vice President, Jessica Alupo, explained that the theme of this year's celebrations challenges all Ugandans to safeguard the peace, unity, stability and democracy ushered in by the patriots who sacrificed their lives to liberate the country.