The mask I wore on Tanzania trip affected my voice, says Museveni

President Museveni Sunday said a mask he wore on a trip to Tanzania affected his voice.

Mr Museveni, 76, said he was forced to delegate his vice, Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi, to an event in Jinja District in eastern Uganda where he was meant to be a guest of honor because he needed time to recuperate from the effects of the facemask. 

“Yesterday I was supposed to go to Jinja, I didn’t go because the mask affected my voice. One type of mask affects my voice. When I went to Tanzania I had to put on a very strong one, and when I came back my voice was affected,” Mr Museveni said while addressing Ugandans on what measures government had undertaken to control the spread of Coronavirus.

The President during the Sunday address said although his voice was not back to full health, it had improved greatly.

Tanzania trip

During his trip to Tanzania last Sunday, Mr Museveni and his Tanzania counterpart, John Pombe Magufuli, signed an agreement to commence construction on a 1,445-kilometre oil pipeline through East Africa that conservation groups say threatens livelihoods and fragile ecosystems.

The project focuses on oilfields in landlocked Uganda discovered in 2006 and proposes pumping the crude to the coast via a pipeline across Tanzania at an estimated cost of $3.5 billion.

The multi-national plan is led by French petroleum giant Total in partnership with China's CNOOC and British group Tullow Oil, which is seeking to finalise selling its stake in the venture. Pictures from the event showed only Museveni and his Ugandan counterparts wearing masks while the Tanzanian delegates and Magufuli himself did not wear a mask.

Jinja event

During the event that happened over the weekend, ,Mr Ssekandi, Speaker Rebecca Kadaga and Kyabazinga of Busoga William Wilberforce Gabula Nadiope IV launched a 10-year Development Agenda for Busoga under the auspices of the Busoga Consortium for Development, a non-partisan platform.

The development agenda is premised on 10 pillars which include; commercializing agriculture; Tourism culture and heritage; Education and skills development; Development of road and water infrastructure; Environmental stability; Industrialization and private sector development; Health improvement; Land and mineral resources development; Urban and human settlement among others.