President Yoweri Museveni who is also the Commander in Chief of the Uganda Armed Forces has highly commended the Uganda Peoples Defense Forces (UPDF) for intensifying Political Education in the army.
“I am happy to see that this has become a reality, because without political education the army cannot perform,” he noted.
The President was yesterday speaking at the closing ceremony of a five day retreat organized by the UPDF Commissariat at the National leadership Institute NALI Kyankwanzi in Kyankwanzi district. The retreat is aimed at rejuvenating and reinvigorating ideology in the army.
While citing a biblical verse that says `when a country has no vision it perishes,’ General Museveni, pointed out that the economy of the country has grown in spite of the delay in some areas of infrastructural development caused by political actors who are not clear headed.
The President noted that the main concern and challenge today is to get out the 68% of the population from subsistence farming to modern commercial agriculture.
He explained that in 1996 the NRM drew up a plan in its manifesto encouraging Ugandans to exploit at least 4 acres of land at household level to engage in intensive farming.
The President said with a package of one acre of clonal coffee, another of fruits, the 3rd for food crops and the 4th for elephant grass for zero grazing of dairy cows, a family could earn about 9 million shillings annually. He added that with additional activities at the back-yard like poultry, apiary, and piggery for non Muslims and for those near the swamps; fish ponds, a farmer could earn more that 12million shillings annually.
“If Ugandans could do that it would change the rural landscape provided they also avoid land fragmentation. No more land fragmentation,’ he stressed.
General Museveni also urged the army to maintain discipline and also praised all security agencies for ensuring the safety of hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who thronged Namugongo Martyrs Shrine to commemorate Martyrs day on Tuesday June 3rd, 2014