Museveni, UK Armed Forces minister discuss security

President Museveni has said the security challenges in Africa are first and foremost ideological because, ‘you cannot have an army without a good or bad cause’ but you must have a cause.
The President was yesterday meeting Mr James Stephen Heappey, the United Kingdom Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for the Armed Forces).

 Mr Heappey is responsible for armed forces activity including operations, operational legal matters, force generation, and international defence engagement. 
The President, who gave an in-depth background of ancient armies, including the British Imperial army, said the problem with some places is having armies without a cause.

“The problem we have with some of these places is that these armies have no cause. Here we had to struggle to crystalise...distil core principles around which we could build institutions including the army. That is how we came up with idea of patriotism. You must have a cause! In Somalia, the causes which are there are wrong, they are clan-based loyalties. In Uganda we had the same problem of sectarianism but we had to defeat them by logic,” Mr Museveni said.

Trade matters
The President said complementarity in trade between groups rather than within groups brings prosperity.
“Our question to our people was.. do you like prosperity or not? The answer was yes. Where will you get prosperity from? Through begging or through producing of a good or service and selling it? Yes, we must produce and sell, but who will buy what you are selling? Tribes do not trade within themselves but between themselves and among others for prosperity,” he said.

Using his own experience, Mr Museveni said as a cattle keeper who produces milk and beef, his tribemates do not buy from him because they have the same products, but his prosperity is from the people in Kampala who buy his products.
“I am from the cattle tribe; I produce milk and beef. My tribe don’t buy from me because they have similar products. Those who buy my products are in Kampala. My prosperity is based on their pockets. When somebody preaches tribalism, I tell them to go to hell. Its inter-dependency within Uganda. Even Uganda is not enough, that is why we say Pan-Africanism,” he said.

Mr Heappey was happy to visit Uganda and said he looked forward to supporting partners with security challenges in the region.
“My first visit, I looked out the window, the lake was still, calm and beautiful. The hills rolling and green and the sun was shining, I was jealous to call this place home, it is beautiful!’’ he said.