Museveni: I am ready to retire as soon as we get East Africa Federation
In January 2021, President Yoweri Museveni said he would be happy to leave office and focus on his private life if Ugandans rejected him in the election.
President Yoweri Museveni has called on the East African leaders to fast track the East African Federation and create a centre of gravity for Africa before he goes to look after his cows.
“Please you people..I want to go and look after my cows. Create a centre of gravity, I push you there then I go and look after my cows,” said Museveni.
This is the second time in less than a year that Museveni is hinting on retiring.
“If I lost a fair election, I would accept the result of course because Uganda is not my house,” President Museveni told CNN’s Christian Amanpour in an interview.
“I have got my house, I will go to my house and do my own things if the people of Uganda don’t want me to help them with their issues. I will go deal with my personal issues very happily.”
However, Museveni, who was then serving his sixth term in office said in the interview that there was nothing wrong with staying for long in power.
He added that while in the past he famously identified Africa’s biggest problem as leaders staying long in office, he only meant those who stick around against democratic rules.
“I said the problem was staying in power for long without democracy; if it is the democratic will of the people… because we have got so many things to deal with, we need all hands on board… there is nothing wrong with that.
Ruto today said Africans can trade better, do business better and connect better when integrated.
President Museveni and Vice President William Ruto were this Tuesday presiding over a ceremony to lay a foundation stone for the construction of a multibillion Biological Drugs and mRNA Vaccine Manufacturing Facility at Matuga-Wakiso District.
The ceremony was held under the theme,”Making Africa self sustaining in Health Care, a giant leap’.
Using a Uganda proverb ‘Akagambo akalungi,’ – a good word that made the hyena sleep near a homestead waiting for a feast.
It goes that a hyena was behind a homestead and heard people planning to slaughter animals for a feast. It made the hyena sleep near home for many nights.
“The good word from the VP Ruto.. the East African Federation. That good word! If the Africans of today don’t wake up and catch up with history, you may will end up building a Latin America in Africa instead of a United States of Africa in Africa,” he said.
President Museveni said the two continents in the Americas, North America has 3 countries Canada, USA and Mexico while South America has about 20 countries.
“When the British colonies got independence, 13 of them decided to unite just like us here and formed a nucleus of United States. The Spanish economies in South America got independence but remained divided. Now, almost 300 years later you can see the difference. The US has huge power and prosperity while South America has misery and chaos. You see them walking, trying to go to US and being shut out at the border. They are running away from misery to prosperity.”
