Respect internal systems of other states, Museveni tells leaders
Delegation. President Museveni (5th left) and Speaker Rebecca Kadaga (4th right) pose for a group photo with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference delegates after the official opening at Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort yesterday. PHOTO BY ALEX ESAGALA
What you need to know:
- Museveni advised the Commonwealth countries to concentrate on turning their population of about 2.4 billion people into promoting investments, working together on security, cultural exchanges and examine the options on trade without disturbing the Continental Free Trade Area arrangements in Africa.
- The 64th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference taking place in Kampala, is running under the theme, “‘Adaption, engagement, and evolution of parliaments in a rapidly changing Commonwealth.”
President Museveni has cautioned Western powers against interference with internal affairs of other countries.
In his address to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Kampala yesterday, Mr Museveni said western governments can only be good allies for security, economic development and cultural exchange.
External meddling into political affairs of independent countries, Mr Museveni said, is detrimental to sovereign democratic undertakings.
“It is wiser for the world leaders to respect the internal systems of each country and influence others by example,” Mr Museveni said.
Using a local adage, “Oyorora zoona, tomanya erahigye,” literally meaning “when dogs are young, you should feed all of them equally because you do not know which puppy will become a better hunter when they grow up.”
Mr Museveni said small countries should not be coerced into accepting political practices of the West.
“If our practices are correct, they will thrive and spread; if they are wrong, they will collapse,” said Mr Museveni, adding “it is not necessary to generate crisis on account of differences in ideology; let there be peaceful competition among different ideas.”
Mr Museveni’s regime has increasingly come under criticism by Western powers for gross human rights abuses, corruption, poor governance and shrinking free political space for the Opposition.
Quite often Western powers have criticised the Uganda government for its high-handedness on political dissent.
“Now that colonialism has been defeated, our advice to friends is that egocentrism, greed and bigotry should be banished so that we use the enhanced scientific knowledge of man to cause the universal well-being of the whole of humanity without exception,” Mr Museveni said.
He added, “Unfortunately, greed continues to obstruct the mutually beneficial interaction within the different portions of the human race and to block the optimum use of scientific knowledge for the universal benefit of man as a whole.”
Museveni advised the Commonwealth countries to concentrate on turning their population of about 2.4 billion people into promoting investments, working together on security, cultural exchanges and examine the options on trade without disturbing the Continental Free Trade Area arrangements in Africa.
The 64th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference taking place in Kampala, is running under the theme, “‘Adaption, engagement, and evolution of parliaments in a rapidly changing Commonwealth.”
Mr Musveni took note of the devastating effects of climate change and highlighted the need to end degradation of nature by man.
“The protection of the environment must remain not only a core point of our commitment, but also a basis of our agreed point of action,” said Mr Museveni.
The President also conveyed a message from the Queen, which emphasised the need for generating ideas to combat the negative effects of climate change.
