President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni who is also the Commander in chief of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) has called on leaders to focus on identifying and solving people’s practical needs, saying this has been the guiding philosophy of the NationalResistance Movement (NRM) since the 1960s.
The President made the remarks while presiding over the election of UPDF representatives to Parliament at the Land Forces Headquarters in Bombo.
During the Defence Council Delegates Conference, UPDF officers elected 10 representatives—seven men and three women—to serve in the 12th Parliament.
The elected male representatives include; Lt. Gen. Sam Okiding, who received 340 votes, Lt. Gen. James Mugira with 303 votes, Lt. Gen. Sam Kavuma with 282 votes, Brig. Gen. Gonyi David with 266 votes, Maj. Gen. Henry Masiko with 251 votes, Maj. Gen. James Kinalwa with 241 votes, and Brig. Gen. Joseph Ssemwanga with 198 votes.
The elected female representatives are Col. Ikiriza Knight, who arnered 307 votes, Col. Meeme Sylvia who got 314 votes, and Col. ekesa Christine Situma who received 261 votes.
In his address, President Museveni thanked the UPDF High ommand for nominating the officers and reiterated the mportance of leaders who are able to identify and work on citizens’ olvable needs.
He referenced the Runyankore concept of “okukyenura”, which he escribed as the deliberate identification and resolution of people’s ractical challenges.
The President reflected on the NRM’s early achievements, noting hat by 1996 the Movement had restored discipline within the rmy, firmly rejected sectarian politics, eliminated shortages of ssential commodities, rebuilt infrastructure, and rolled out mmunisation against the six killer diseases.
He said these interventions earned the NRM massive public support at the time.e further highlighted the government efforts aimed at uplifting he poor through initiatives such as Entandikwa, Universal primary Education, army schools, NAADS, Operation Wealth reation, and the Parish Development Model, which he said is currently delivering positive results at the grassroots.
The President added that the renewed enthusiasm witnessed round the NRM in the recent elections is a reflection of these efforts and the peace the movement has maintained.
President Museveni further explained that UPDF representatives n Parliament act as observation posts to identify national issues early and report them to the army leadership, thereby helping to revent policy mistakes.
He cited the decision by Members of Parliament to increase their alaries as an example of an issue that could have been addressed arlier if such mechanisms were effectively utilized.
In the other hand, President Museveni tasked the newly elected UPDF representatives to closely monitor government programmes ncluding the Parish Development Model, free education, road onstruction and immunisation, while noting that although reventive healthcare has improved, challenges remain in curative ervices.
In electoral governance, the President reiterated that the longstanding objective of the NRM has been to place Ugandans in harge of their country through one person, one vote by secret allot.
He revealed that irregularities were detected in the 2021 eneral elections, including the infiltration of an estimated 2.7 illion votes, which informed his insistence on the use of biometric erification systems, although he noted that these had not been ully utilised.
The President emphasized that for the country to remain stable, eople in power must allow citizens to freely choose their leaders.
He also commended the UPDF and other security agencies for roviding security during the recently concluded elections.
The Chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission, Justice Simon Byabakama, congratulated UPDF officers for xhibiting discipline throughout the voting process and expressed hope that the same discipline would be exercised in other electoral rocesses across the country.
He called on all stakeholders to settle down and embrace unity as he election season comes to an end.uring the same ceremony, President Museveni commissioned hree officer cadets presented by Maj. Gen. James Kinalwa, Joint taff Human Resource Management.
The commissioned officers are Bazalaki Timothy, who trained at eneral Sir John Kotelawala Defence University in Sri Lanka, Akoi Moses, and Piloya Vivian, both of whom completed their training in Tanzania.
