KAMPALA– The President of the Republic of Uganda HE Yoweri Kaguta Museveni on Saturday night scoffed at the security operatives for using rudimentary tactics in handling Ugandan suspects in their hands.
Tough Museveni who was addressing the country on the state of security in the country warned the men in uniform to stop torturing suspects in cells since the act might not yield admirable results in their investigations.
Here are some of the key takeaways from his address
Human rights
– Security forces shouldn’t beat & bark at people.
-There shouldn’t be any killing of a Ugandan including prisoners. Killing of opponents creates permanent enemity and heroes.
– Detention for long hours without trial not allowed.
– Deporting foreigners without trial should be stopped.
– Cases of human rights abuse registered a result of indiscipline of security officers and inadequate briefing by commanders.
– Rely on courts to punish wrong doers.
– No Ugandan today is a refugee due to stability in the country. Before the current government came to power, 500,000 Ugandans were refugees. The country instead now hosts 1.6 million refugees.
– The use of torture to make suspects confess is wrong and must be stopped. Criminals can still be convicted without confession so long as investigators do their job well.
– Reactionary behavior in armed forces will be eradicated.
Emyooga programme (Presidential initiative on poverty alleviation targeting low income groups)
– Targets mainly youth not engaged in agriculture e.g. saloon workers, carpenters, welders, performing artists etc.
– Implemented at constituency level.
– 260B provided as seed capital throughout Micro Finance Support Centre.
– 6748 SACCOS established countrywide. By June, they had saved 27B shillings.
– 4.1 million Ugandans have opened bank accounts through their associations.
– Overall, the programme has stimulated economic activity through savings.
– Ministry of Finance requested to ensure adequate funding for the programme.
– Emyooga is a good idea which will create a residential bank for members.
COVID-19 vaccination
– Uganda is struggling to buy vaccines. Discussions ongoing with manufacturers of the different types.
– Uganda is now in stage five of developing its own.
