President tips security officers on patriotism

Kampala. President Museveni has re-echoed his call to the security forces in the country to embrace patriotism and pan-Africanism as a way of making a contribution to Uganda’s and the continent’s socio-economic transformation and democracy.

Mr Museveni made the remarks on Tuesday night while delivering an opportunity lecture to officers from the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), police and Prisons at State House, Entebbe.
A State House statement noted that the President told the officers that the reason most African countries have had problems in their post-independence era is their forces inheriting colonial orientation, and lack of understanding of the role the army should have played after colonialism.

The officers in attendance have recently been undergoing different training courses focusing on; military, political education, health and self-empowerment skills.
“Armies in the past had different roles to play. Some armies served to protect empires and were used to colonize other societies. Colonial armies were used to defend colonialism. That is why Idi Amin fought against the Mau Mau rebels in Kenya who were against colonials,” Mr Museveni said.

Colonial armies
He said colonialists used to recruit soldiers from societies that welcomed their rule to suppress those that resisted and it is why post-independence colonial armies failed to understand the principles that a national army should be based on.
“An army should first and foremost be patriotic and anti-sectarian. The army must first have the love for Uganda not Acholi or Ankole,” Mr Museveni said.

The President said the reason he started a student movement that resisted the colonial army in the 1960s was the lack of understanding of the role of the army and the principals for it to be based on.
He challenged the security forces to work under the guiding principles of patriotism, Pan-Africanism, Socio-economic transformation, and democracy, which his NRM government stands for.

Mr Museveni, who also promoted three UPDF soldiers to the rank of second lieutenant, commended the army for teaching the officers political education.
The soldiers have been attending training at Karama Armoured Warfare Training School in Mubende District and Oliver Tambo Leadership School in Kaweweta, Nakaseke District.
The police and prisons officers have been undergoing training at the National Leadership Institute in Kyankawnzi District.

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