President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has banned giving police bonds to village thieves.
“There is rampant stealing of cattle, goats, etc and the soft handling by the police and the courts of such criminals through giving them police bonds and court bails. I have raised the issue of bails with His Lordship the Chief Justice, and I have banned the issue of Police bonds,” he said.
The President made the remarks today while delivering his end-of-year address to the nation at his country home in Rwakitura. The national address was also attended by the First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Maama Janet Museveni.
According to President Museveni, any police personnel that give a police bond to a village thief when the case is ready for trial, he or she will be held fully
accountable.
“Firm legal handling of criminals, is very
useful. I have shared with you through the social – media, how, recently, in my Karamoja trip, I was told that a total
of 3,000 Karamojong Karachunas, through the efficient and dedicated mechanism of the Military Court Martial, are in the different jails – 900 of them in Kitalya Prison. This explains why there is now total peace in Karamoja and the
surrounding districts of Acholi, Lango, Teso, Bugisu and Sebei. It is also good for those Karachunas. Many of them
would be dead by now on account of clashing with the UPDF,” he urged.
“Let the Government introduce skilling to these young People, so that when they get out of Prison, they can create wealth and jobs for themselves and for other
Ugandans. Similarly, handling the village thieves legally firmly, is good
for the villages and also good for those thieves.”
On the other hand, President Museveni congratulated Ugandans on the good coffee prices. He attributed this to the drought problems in Brazil, Vietnam and
other coffee-growing Countries.
“It also confirms the correctness of the NRM strategy of its 1996 Manifesto of
the 4 acres model and seven activities. This was: one acre for clonal coffee; one acre for fruits (mangoes, oranges, pineapples, apples or grapes); one acre for pasture for dairy cattle; one acre for food crops (bananas, cassava, emoondi,
etc); and poultry for eggs and piggery in the backyard (ekanyima); as well as fish- farming at the edge of the wetlands. This was the medicine for People who had
fragmented the land so badly that they now had only 4 acres or less. When we made these recommendations, we
had studied accurately the demand for all the products that grow in Uganda, within Uganda, within Africa and
Internationally. This is why we included these 7 activities under intensive agriculture – where you use small land to
get good money for the family – 4 acres or less,” he said.
“There are other products that the Country needs such as tea, cotton,
sugarcane, tobacco, maize, etc, but can only make enough money for the family, if you do them on a big scale. We
included these into extensive agriculture.”
The President further raised the issue of harvesting immature coffee, saying that it will affect the quality of Ugandan coffee internationally.
“I recently, got a report from an attendant of the advanced military
course at the National Defence College, Njeru, following their field research. In the research, they noticed some people drying green coffee harvested prematurely. When they inquired, they were told by the Wanainchi that
nibatangatangana (to compete with some other People as to who would do something first) with the marijuana-smoking youth that idle in the Trading Centres doing nothing and,
then, steal People’s coffee at night,” he said.
“What are the RDCs doing? Why do they not engage these youth to direct their efforts towards honest work? How about the Police? If the concerned People do not act, I will involve the UPDF to empower all the wealth creators – farmers, etc – to guard their property by activating the vast militia of our LDUs. It will not be good for those thieves. This harvesting of immature coffee will affect the quality of our coffee. It is not acceptable.”
President Museveni further congratulated Ugandans upon completing the year 2024.
“Uganda remained peaceful on
account of God, a strong Army, the other sister security services and a supportive population. You, for instance,
remember when the ADF terrorists came from Congo, killed the children of Lhubiriha Secondary School, killed two
tourists and a Ugandan, entered Kibaale Forest National Park and started killing a few people around the Forest,” he said.
“The combined capacity of Uganda’s security apparatus was partially activated, including the LDUs. Within a couple of months, the whole group was destroyed, including the killing of the group leader, Kamusu. This was in the month of June 2023 the same was the case, when in the year 2021, terrorists using jambias (pangas), started killing People in the Masaka area. The group was crushed. It is that capacity of God, the Army, the other sister Security Forces and the People, that even in this year ending, has kept Uganda stable.”
He however noted that there were some shallow schemes by local traitors and their foreign sponsors, who wanted to cause criminality and civil disorder like what happened in Kenya but all this was impossible on account of God, a strong army, the other sister security services and a supportive population.
Furthermore, President Museveni noted that despite the peace and a robust economy of Uganda, in 2024 the country faced some misery brought about by the natural disasters
“We had the petrol tank accident at Kigogwa, landslides in Bulambuli, the floods in Kasese, Kitezi landslides etc. This is regrettable especially when most of it is avoidable. How? Do not live or build in a vulnerable area, why do you build in a wetland? Don’t you know that one day that house will be swept away by the water? Why do you build on a steep slope? Why do you build in the flood plains of the rivers?” he inquired.
He also warned the country about the growing dangers of monkeypox (Mpox), saying the disease is apparently being spread through contact with a sick person and sex.
“The good thing is it does not spread through breathing like Corona. Therefore, anybody with blisters of monkeypox report to the health centre and isolate yourself from your family and secondly, avoid undisciplined sex.”
He also congratulated Ugandans on the good performance of the country’s sportsmen and women.
“Ever Since 1986, the NRM has been concentrating on peace building and economic recovery. We have not yet concentrated on sports, music and other talent-based services. Nevertheless, the mere achievement of peace has already started unleashing star performances by our sportsmen and women in the Olympics, Commonwealth games, African games, etc. I congratulate all of them,” he noted.
“We have also been honoured to be granted the opportunity to host CHAN early next year and AFCON in 2027 along with our brothers and sisters in Kenya and Tanzania. I’m glad the government is working vigorously to ensure that the necessary infrastructure is in place.”
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