East\nAfrican countries that are ready to kick-start the political federation should\ngo ahead and do so, President Museveni has said, adding that the rest can\nfollow later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nPresident made the remarks yesterday (Friday) as he delivered a public lecture\nat Kenyatta University in Nairobi, at the conclusion of his three-day State\nVisit to the neighbouring Kenya. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking\nto students and staff who had filled the university\u2019s amphitheatre on the theme\nof \u2018African Integration\u2019, President Museveni said, \u201cIf some members are not\nready for the political federation, let those who are ready go ahead rather\nthan be paralysed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Referring\nto a Kinyankole proverb, the President said procrastinating on the matter would\nbe akin to a hunter who waits for the whole animal to come out of hiding only\nto miss it whereas one who attacks it the moment it shows face, stands better\nchance of catching the animal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A\npolitical federation is the fourth and highest form of integration, the initial\nstages being the Customs Union, Common Market and Monetary Union. At the last\nEAC Heads of State Summit in Arusha in February this year, the leaders tasked\nPresident Museveni to supervise a team of experts to work on the constitution\nof the political confederation. The team is expected to deliver a preliminary\nreport by September this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nEast African political federation, according to the EAC Treaty, will be\npremised on three pillars; common foreign and security policies, good\ngovernance and effective implementation of the three prior stages of\nintegration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At\nthe Kenyatta University lecture, President Museveni, after giving a brief\nperspective of Africa\u2019s history and civilization, taking his attentive audience\non a narrative of the Egyptian Civilization, through the age of slavery, to\ncolonialism and the other maladies that Africa now faces like poverty and\nmarginalisation, he posed the question, \u201cHow could a continent that was a first\non all fronts now be the last and still going through the same calamities?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Five key issues<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n He\nadded that for freedom fighters like him, there were five key agenda items they\nneeded to accomplish for Africa to regain its shine and place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nfirst was to ensure we got our freedom back from the colonial masters. That was\nthe primary goal of our resistance leaders like Kwame Nkrumah, Jomo Kenyatta,\nDedan Kimathi, Nnamdi Azikiwe and others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis\nwas largely accomplished. Africans were able to defeat and outlive the\ncolonialists because they were resilient and did not become extinct like some\nof the races in America and elsewhere. We have strong genes. But the Europeans,\ndriven by greed on how to share colonies, became weak after this greed led to\nthe two world wars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nPresident said with freedom from colonialists attained, the next item on the\nagenda was to ensure Africans had a say in how affairs of their countries were\nconducted and choice of leaders. \u201cOur second item, therefore, was democracy,\u201d\nhe said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prosperity question<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nthird question and perhaps one of the most important, according to President\nMuseveni, was the one of prosperity of the African people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\nhad to ask, how do our people live well in a modern way and prosper? Take my\nexample. I am a cattle keeper. I must use modern methods to produce beef and\nmilk but ensure I sell it. But the Banyankole, my people, also produce milk and\nbeef. They cannot buy from me. This meant we had to address the question of\nidentity against interests,\u201d added the President.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He\npointed out that addressing this matter had become even more critical after\nindependence Parties chose to organise people along sectarian lines. In Uganda,\nhe noted, the Uganda People\u2019s Congress was Protestant-leaning, the Democratic\nParty was for Catholics while the Baganda rallied around Kabaka Yekka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\nrejected this idea of sectarianism and, therefore, had to craft an ideology\nthat made a case for prosperity and not sectarianism. That is how we arrived at\npatriotism. Here, our view was that rather than just your tribe, you must love\nand support your country,\u201d said the President.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He\nadded: \u201cBut even love for your country alone is not enough. Uganda now produces\n2.7 billion litres of milk annually but consumes only 800 million litres. The\nsurplus is sold in the region. This example showed us that beyond country, we\nneeded to ally with our neighbours hence another parameter of our ideology\u2014Pan\nAfricanism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nPresident said Pan-Africanism was the ideological bedrock on which\norganisations like the East African Community and the African Union were\nfounded. He pointed out that besides creating a bigger market, these blocs were\nalso important when it came to negotiating with stronger third parties like the\nUS and China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Strategic Security<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Noting\nthat economic prosperity alone was not enough, President Museveni said Africa\nalso had to address the issue of its strategic security, as the fourth key\nissue. \u201cHow do we secure Africa? How do we ensure that Africa will not be\ncolonised again? In the Second World War, the first victims of German\naggression were the highly developed but militarily insecure countries like\nBelgium, France and Poland.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He\nadded: \u201cToday, even countries like Israel and South Korea which are very\ndeveloped still need military support of the US to guarantee their security.\nThe Americans are talking of four-dimension superiority; on land, air, sea and\nspace. Where does this leave Africa?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nanswer for strategic security, said the President, lies in political integration.\n\u201cMy view here is that we start with integration of the regional blocs where we\nare more compatible and similar than go for the big continental political\nintegration as was pushed by other leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n President\nMuseveni pointed out that for East Africa, the use of Swahili, a neutral\nlanguage would make the process of integration much easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fraternity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nfinal item on the agenda, the President said, was about the socio-cultural\nlinkages of the African peoples, which makes an even stronger case for their\nunity. \u201cAfrica, for example, has just four broad language groups. The\nNiger-Congo groups of languages which includes the Bantu and the Igbo of\nNigeria, the Nilo-Saharan group which has the Somalis and the Nilotics, the\nAfro-Asiatic languages and the Khoisan of South Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFraternity,\ntherefore, becomes the fifth item on our agenda,\u201d he said as he concluded,\ndrawing a sustained applause from his audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nPresident also donated a copy of the Uganda Argus published in 1963 with the\nheadline \u201cFederation This Year\u201d to the university, cautioning on how the EAC\nproject that had started with great promise had ended up collapsing in 1977,\nwarning that similar mistakes should not be repeated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nuniversity on its part gifted the President with an artefact of a wooden\nelephant, thanking him for honouring them with the lecture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Present\nin the audience was Uganda\u2019s Foreign Affairs Minister, Sam Kutesa, his Kenyan\ncounterpart, Monica Juma, Kenya\u2019s Education Cabinet Secretary, Prof. George\nMagoha and Kenyatta University Vice Chancellor, Fredrick Gravenir, among\nothers. \n\nThe\nPresident, who later concluded his 3-day State Visit to Kenya, was received on\narrival at Entebbe International Airport by the Deputy Head of Public Service,\nMs. Deborah Katuramu, Chief of Staff of Air Force, Maj. Gen. James Birungi,\nDeputy Inspector General of Police, Maj. Gen. Muzeeyi Sabiiti and the\nCommissioner General of Prisons. \n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" East African countries that are ready to kick-start the political federation should go ahead and do so, President Museveni has said, adding that the rest can follow later. The President made the remarks yesterday (Friday) as he delivered a public lecture at Kenyatta University in Nairobi, at the conclusion of his three-day State Visit to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27983,"featured_media":8935,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_paywall_metabox":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[31],"class_list":["post-8934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured"],"yoast_head":"\n