Museveni roots for African unity to enhance security

African countries should unite for the sake of the continent’ s security,  President Museveni has said.
The President made the remarks while lecturing a 17-man delegation of officers from the New Delhi National Defence College led by Brig Anil Pundir  at State House, Entebbe yesterday. Some of the officers were in the company of their wives.
Mr Museveni made particular reference to the evolution of mankind and its development in Africa. 
He said countries must be formed into units to ensure Africa’s security. 

The President said the first principle of the NRM government is patriotism. 
“By being sectarian, you fight against those who would provide you with a market for your goods and services,” Mr  Museveni  said. 
He also highlighted the evolving situation over the India-Uganda relations. 
The President told the delegation that when Idi Amin expelled Indians from Uganda, it created a big shortage of commodities. 

However, when the NRM government took power, Indians were invited to return and other measures were taken to attract more investors to improve the economy. “This contributed towards our prosperity,” Mr Museveni said.
The President noted that the second principle of the NRM is to promote Pan Africanism and urged the African population to always think of their continent as a united. 

Mr Museveni said this calls for the promotion of the Continental Free Trade Area . 
He observed that socio economic transformation was a fundamental factor of development, saying democracy was a sure case for attaining prosperity.
Mr Museveni also said under-population has been Africa’s problem. He noted that in 1960, the continent had a population of 400 million but the figure has tripled to 1.2 billion people. 
He also told his guests that the continent has four language groups, namely the Niger Congo, the Nilo Saharan, Afro-Asiatic and the Bushmen of South Africa and was pleased to note that Africa has Kiswahili as its neutral language. 

The President added that language is important for the future growth of the continent. 
Mr Museveni said Africa was mismanaged by the traditional chiefs and highly manipulated by colonialists. 
He said for the case of Uganda, a new group of students emerged in the 1960s, which played a key role in correcting the mistakes of previous leaders. 
The President said the group addressed the issues pertaining to prosperity of the country, adding that their view was that one becomes prosperous only by producing goods or services and having a buyer. 

On the issue of the disturbed World Order, he said this was due to ideological, philosophical and domination mistakes. He told the soldiers that a war must be just in order to achieve durable results. 
He said this was an opportunity for Uganda to work with India towards solving the global challenges. 
The President reiterated that this was  the time for sober-minded people to cooperate, warning that nobody should involve himself in a war that is not just. 
Mr Museveni  said there was need to have more exchanges of students between Uganda and India. He looked forward to more training between the armies of Uganda and India.

President Museveni attributed the success of women in Uganda to affirmative action. 
The Indian High Commissioner to Uganda, Mr Shri Kumar, said the visit symbolised  deep bilateral relations between the two countries. He said India has been training 40 Ugandans per year in various fields.
Brig Pundir said the delegation has a programme to visit Britain when it completes its Uganda tour. He said the officers present were from India, Nepal, Nigeria, South Korea, and Vietnam.