Sudanese Diplomat: IGAD leaders to meet in Juba on Thursday

Sent: Monday, January 20, 2014 7:34 AM
Subject: Fw: Fw: [PK] Re: IGAD leaders to meet in Juba on Thursday: Sudanese diplomat

Maurice,

What about ordinary majority who are the engine of Democracy, the boda boda and them all; dont we catter for them as well so they are equally at par with all of us. If they too are readers here, if we dont provide sufficient explanation of the going ons, then we cant afford to be too brief. They will miss the ghist of the real issues. It is why

as we bring points to fore, they too participate alongside; because the summary dont tell them enough to engage and take action.

Professionals dont take action to move matters unless they are under pressure, they read and discard; but ordinary people read and take action......

Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA
http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com/

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Maurice Oduor
To: "wanakenya@googlegroups.com"
Cc: Progressive Kenyans ; KOL ; VVM Vuguvugu Mashinani
Sent: Monday, January 20, 2014 7:18 AM
Subject: Re: Fw: [PK] Re: IGAD leaders to meet in Juba on Thursday: Sudanese diplomat

Judy,

A lot of these folks are lazy readers. They don't pay attention for more than 2-3 min. If a posting goes more than 3 min, the abandon it and move on to the next one. If you keep writing very long essays, a lot of important points you're tying to make may fall through the cracks because no one is seeing them to discuss that.

Courage

On Mon, Jan 20, 2014 at 7:59 AM, Judy Miriga <jbatec@yahoo.com> wrote:

Precisely Maurice, you summarized it well..................

Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA
http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com/

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Maurice J. Oduor <mauricejoduor@gmail.com>
To: "wanakenya@googlegroups.com" <wanakenya@googlegroups.com>
Cc: "progressive-kenyans@googlegroups.com" <progressive-kenyans@googlegroups.com>; "wanakenya@googlegroups.com" <wanakenya@googlegroups.com>; Change Mombasa <changemombasa2012@yahoogroups.com>; kenyaonline@yahoogroups.com; Kiswahili <Kiswahili@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, January 20, 2014 6:24 AM
Subject: [PK] Re: IGAD leaders to meet in Juba on Thursday: Sudanese diplomat

Judy,

From this entire essay, I get it that you're making the following points:

1. The 11 political prisoners should be freed.

2. If there are reasonable grounds, the 11 political prisoners should be charged in a court of law.

3. Most importantly, the world media should get access to these 11 political prisoners to ascertain if they're still alive to begin with.

This is how I see your long essay.

Courage

==================

On 2014-01-20, at 6:48 AM, Judy Miriga <jbatec@yahoo.com> wrote:

Good People,

Are the political detainees property of the Government of South Sudan or they belong to IGAD?If the South Sudanese political detainees have not been charged, it means there is no concrete offense they committed for which there is no evidence and therefore, they have no case and they must be freed unconditionally.Why then would they be placed under some confinement or under the responsibility of IGAD?This does not add up nor does it make sense at all. It brings up a question whether they are dead or alive and whether there is a conspiracy to find ways to cover-up if they were already killed. Incase they are alive, are they for some reason sold to the IGAD or they are bought by IGAD as IGAD SLAVES so they must be under IGAD responsibilities. If they are a free citizens of South Sudan who are obligated to engage in the business of how South Sudan Government should be governed, then they must be set free unconditionally.

Ideally, there are some bones to chew here. The eleven political detainees have been criminalized for no reason. They have their rights violated, because of corruption, graft and impunity their leader engaged in, where the people of South Sudan have their livelihood and survival abused as a result of greed in the conflict of interest their President engaged in under sworn oath he took to serve public office in the People's Government of South Sudan; where he undertook charge to prioritize and to protect, preserve and provide for South Sudanese public mandate and interest,........ but instead changed focus to give priority to the secondary concern of his business vested interest in IGAD which are meant to serve the International network of Corporate Special Business Interest.This is unacceptable and justice must urgently be prepared by the legal advocates to be served under the certificate of urgency to the ICC Hague demanding unconditional release of the 11 South Sudanese prisoners immediately.

Good People, something don’t seem right here; the three officials of the Government have even complicated matters are causing worrisome confusion about the state-of-affair of the eleven political detainees of South Sudan.

The world must stand up for these 11 political prisoners of South Sudan to be freed unconditionally and urgently without buts or ifs...........

Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA
http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com/

======================

Monday 20 January 2014

IGAD leaders to meet in Juba on Thursday: Sudanese diplomat

January 19, 2014 (KHARTOUM) - The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) leaders including president Omer al-Bashir will meet in the South Sudan’s capital Juba on Thursday to discuss the ongoing crisis in the new nation and to encourage a negotiated settlement.

According to the Sudanese ambassador to South Sudan, Mutrif Sideeq, Thursday summit aims to push towards a peaceful end to the conflict which started on 15 December last year. In statement to Khartoum based Ashorooq TV, he further said that IGAD foreign ministers will gather on Wednesday, a day before the meeting.

The Sudanese diplomat further disclosed that the three-member mediation panel arrived to Juba on Sunday evening in a bid to secure the release of the political detainees, as the signing of a cessation of hostilities seems imminent.

Reliable sources said the two negotiating teams in Addis Ababa agreed on three draft agreements that to be signed immediately after the release of the 11 detainees. The mediators hope to persuade president Salva Kiir to free them without trial as he accuse his opponents of fomenting a coup d’état.

The three mediators propose that Juba release the political detainees under the responsibility of the East African regional body, IGAD.

The sources further said the two parties still disagree on how to identify the Ugandan troops in the agreements (foreign allies or allies only), underlining that the UPDF are there on a request by the South Sudanese government.

Rebels say the Ugandan role, may hamper IGAD efforts to broker a peaceful settlement to the one-month conflict in South Sudan, as Uganda is a member of the IGAD body.

The rebel leader Riek Machar says the detainees, including Pagan Amum, Deng Alor and Oyai Deng Ajak, will negotiate with the government delegation a political agreement to end the conflict.

(ST)

=====================

Khartoum 'concerned' over Ugandan military intervention in S. Sudan

By MOHAMMED AMIN in Khartoum | Monday, January 20 2014 at 18:50

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir intends to raise the matter of Ugandan soldiers in South Sudan at the Igad summit in Juba on Thursday. FILE PHOTO

The Sudanese government has expressed concern over the Ugandan military intervention in the current war in South Sudan.

Sudan’s minister of Foreign affairs, Mr Ali Kartihas, told reporters in Khartoum on Monday that his government is opposed to any foreign military intervention in the neighbouring country.

“Sudan has the most interests of all other neighbours regarding what is happening in South Sudan because of security, economic and strategic reasons,” the minister said after holding a meeting with the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

“Sudan is standing on the side of stability in South Sudan, but we principally reject foreign intervention in that country,” he said.

“This intervention may attract other regional sides to do likewise and that deeply concerns us; even Ethiopia has expressed its concern over these Ugandan military operations in South Sudan” he explained.

“The Igad summit to be held in Juba on Thursday will discuss the foreign intervention in South Sudan, beside the efforts of how to convince the warring parties to halt hostilities."

Ugandan army is fighting beside government troops in South Sudan.

Sudanese political analyst Abdul Ali said to Africa Review on Monday that the Ugandan military intervention is very sensitive to the other countries in the region.

He added that there will be conflict of interests and ambitions within the East African countries.

“I think this will also be of concern to the international community which pays special attention to the world’s youngest and oil-rich state," he said.

“For Sudan this situation is of great concern because of the oilfields and the flow of the southern crude through the Sudanese pipeline."

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) will hold an urgent summit on Thursday in Juba to discuss the latest developments in the crisis.

Earlier, the Sudanese government made it known that it had no intention of intervening militarily in the current war in South Sudan.

===========================

Kenyan Lawmakers Want Uganda out of South Sudan, Accuse Museveni of “Hidden Interests”

Senator James Orengo in a news conference. Photo credit: capitalfm.co.ke

Nairobi, January 19, 2014 (SSNA) -- Senators of the Kenyan political block, the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) have expressed their concerns over Uganda’s military involvement in South Sudan and urged the Kenyan government to stop Uganda’s one-sided policy in the world’s newest nation.

The two senators, Hassan Omar and James Orengo charged Uganda’s president of pursuing “hidden interests” and want him to publicly declare the interests he is pursuing.

The Lawmakers also asked the Ugandan President to immediately withdraw his troops from South Sudan and urged him to give peace a chance.

“We are telling the Kenyan government to ask Museveni to quit fighting in South Sudan with immediate effect. He is the one who is fuelling the conflict by supporting one side”, Senator Hassan Omar argues.

Senator James Orengo went further saying the Ugandan president should leave “the Island of Migingo” alone before meddling in the young nation’s affairs.

“Museveni is an aggressor and if the truth be told he can only morally intervene in the South Sudan if he can leave alone the Island of Migingo because it belongs to the people of Kenya”, Orengo said.

The lawmakers further accused Museveni of “sabotaging the peace process” currently taking place in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

The Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is widely hated in South Sudan because of his military intervention.

Most South Sudanese believe that the alleged coup claimed by President Kiir was actually a plan given to him (Kiir) by Museveni to get rid of all his political rivals.

COMMENTS:

JamuthFighter in Jonglei

•a day ago

Oops. Now the war is escalating. Kampala must watch is back for waging a reckless war wi th out details info. I came to understand Museveni as leader who think he is the most powerful country in East Africa when in fact the opposite is true. Museveni is a curse.

Jimmy Dut

•a day ago

Senator, you have spoken and your voice was heard..... Kiir, Igga, Lomuro, Interior Minister, IGP Pieng, Dr. Benjamin, Michael Makue lueth will go to ICC for ordering the killing of Nuer community on 15,16,17,18,19,20/12/13 and we as citizen of south sudan have enough evidence on the killing. people were been carried out by Tipperlorries and Containers being thrown to the River Nile and others were barried within juba and we all have seen. we are grateful for ur support to see peace in south sudan

=======================

Monday 20 January 2014

President Kiir will not consider stepping down in 2015: official

January 19, 2014 (JUBA) - South Sudanese president Salva Kiir is not contemplating stepping down in the 2015 elections, despite mounting pressure against his bid for another term in office, disclosed a senior government official.

The South Sudanese President Salva Kiir (AFP/Nicholas Kamm)

“As far as I know, the president has not indicated that he would step down in 2015. He is not contemplating that. There are no such plans to stand down”, the official, who asked not to be named, told Sudan Tribune Sunday.

He further explained that it was only the people of South Sudan who had the constitutional right to decide who should lead them.

"We have to appreciate that this country has been in peace because Salva Kiir has been the president. If it were other people I know who resort to violence once removed from power, this country would have gone the Somalia way”, stressed the official.

It is president Kiir who has been a uniting factor for our people, he added.

The senior official also expressed concerns about the integration of militia forces into the national army (SPLA), saying some high-ranking officers within the military were totally opposed to the idea.

Meanwhile, Lual Bol Kuan, who speaks for the business community, said those using force to get to power should be isolated. He, however, said he was not aware of any plan by the president to step down.

"South Sudanese people know our leaders, especially what they are capable to do, how they love this country and their commitment to deliver to their expectations.

President Kiir has been very good, especially when it comes to uniting and forgiving the people,” said Kuan.

He also the South Sudanese leader would still forgive his deputy Riek Machar, should he decide to abandon the current rebellion against the current government.

"He [Kiir] has done that before to other rebels. So I don’t have a reason to believe why he would not do it”, he said, citing previous incidents where rebel groups have been pardoned and their forces integrated in to the army.

"Some of them have been appointed to the cabinet and advisory portfolios”, Kuan explained.

Samson Duku, an executive member of South Sudan business association, said the war had badly affected all commercial activities, with foreign companies repatriating their representatives.

He, however, said talks about President Salva Kiir stepping down should not be the subject of discussion now, but rather how peace and stability could be restored back into the country.

“The most important and urgent issue now is peace and stability. Our people need peace. They do not want war. So focus now is peace not talks about whether the president should step down in 2015. How do you talk about political process when the country is at war”, Duku asked.

Mary Aluel, a national legislator from Lakes state, said the ruling party (SPLM) leadership would decide in their next convention, whether President Kiir should stand in the next elections or not.

"The question you are asking is irrelevant at the moment. It will be answered when SPLM holds national convention. So this issue is not under discussion now," Aluel told Sudan Tribune when asked to comment on western and opposition calls for the president to stand down.

The lawmaker further stated that the question about the future of the country would also be decided by the citizens during elections, instead of individual political party members.

"Only the South Sudan people can decide who should take part in elections”, she explained.

(ST)

Aftermath of Bor reveals widespread destruction

January 19, 2014 (JUBA) – Homes, offices and the market have all been reduced to rubble following recent heavy fighting between the South Sudanese army (SPLA) and rebels in Jonglei state capital, (...)

Australia sends Sudanese asylum seekers back to Indonesia: diplomat

January 19, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – Australian authorities have returned a number of boats which sailed from Indonesia carrying illegal immigrants including nine Sudanese, a diplomat in Jakarta said. (...)

Sudanese army rules out intervention in S. Sudan conflict

January 19, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) dismissed suggestions that it could intervene in the ongoing military conflict in South Sudan saying that there is no special (...)

S. Sudan’s Kiir to blame for violence: Machar’s spokesperson

January 20, 2014 (JUBA) – South Sudanese rebels have squarely blamed the ongoing protracted violence on president Salva Kiir whom they accused of imposing the war on them as a “short cut” to try (...)

UN condemns S. Sudan army attempts to forcefully enter compound

December 19, 2014 (NEW YORK) – UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon has condemned an attempt by the South Sudanese army (SPLA) to force their way into a UN compound in Jonglei capital Bor, currently (...)

S. Sudanese army pursuing rebel forces in Warrap state

January 19, 2014 (JUBA) - The South Sudanese army (SPLA) said it had deployed troops in the country's Warrap state after dissident forces opposed to the current government killed two people in (...)

===============================

Sent: Sunday, January 19, 2014 5:25 AM
Subject: Speech by Yoweri Museveni President of Uganda , 15th January, 2014 Luanda, Angola

Speech

by

H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni

President of the Republic of Uganda

15^th January, 2014Luanda, Angola

His Excellency Eduardo Dos Santos,

President of the Republic of Angola,

Your Excellencies, the Heads of State and Government, Ladies and Gentlemen.

I greet Your Excellencies.

As I said in South Africa, the concept of the Great Lakes is not a new one but an ancient one in our area. Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Eastern Congo, South Sudan have, since time immemorial, been linked to the East African Coast of Zanzibar through mainland Tanzania. We would get textiles (emyenda), glass beads (enkwaanzi)and guns from or through the Coast and we would send elephant tusks (emiino)to the Coast. We would also send them bark cloth (ebitooma-embugu) and iron-ore (obutare) products (hoes, pangas, spears, arrows, etc). Out of the Congo forest, we would get copper products (emiriinga), animal skin products (amooshe), timber products as well as ivory products (engoro). The word lake is translated as “Nyaanja” or “Nyaanza” in many of the Bantu dialects of the area.

That is why you hear of the Kinyaanjaof Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique and of Nyaanza province in Kenya. Actually, in my other role as a linguist of African dialects, I have proposed that the interlacustrine Bantu dialects of the Great Lakes found in Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Eastern Congo, North-Western and Western Tanzania, Western Kenya and even, Northern Zambia and possibly Northern Angola, should be given the collective name of Kinyaanja North to distinguish them from the Kinyaanja of Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique. In that connection, I have not yet understood why Malawi and Mozambique are not part of the Great Lakes’ fraternity because, historically and culturally, they are very much part of this region. Therefore, the Cushitic, Nilotic, Bantu and Semitic peoples of this area are either similar or linked culturally. Besides, as mentioned above, they have been trading among themselves for millennia. It was colonialism that interfered, for some decades, with these linkages by establishing Belgian, British, French and Portuguese colonies in the different parts of this vast region.

It is good that we have re-assembled this region under the ICGLR, COMESA and EAC.

The conflicts that have afflicted this area are actually linked. They, essentially, came from three sources as indicated below:

(i)the colonial manipulation of the indigenous castes (occupational specializations) of Rwanda and Burundi in the colonial period, climaxing into the first genocide organized by the Belgians in Rwanda in 1959 and 1960;

(ii)the wrong foreign and domestic policies of Mobutu of, on the other hand, harbouring enemies of neighbours (Angola, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Brazaville) and, on the other hand, denying the rights of some of their own people as not being Congolese; and

(iii)the failure by the people of Sudan (the former United Sudan) to resolve the issues of their diversity resulting in the prolonged civil war in that country, involving eventually, Uganda.

The Belgian sponsored genocide of 1959-60 in Rwanda created a Tutsi diaspora that dispersed in the region (Uganda, Congo, Burundi and Tanzania).

After being told by Kayibanda and Habyarimaana for 30 years that they can never go back to their country because the people who had remained in Rwanda and taken their property had multiplied and, therefore, there was no space for them in the country of their heritage, they organized (under the RPF) and launched the attack of 1990 on Rwanda. The sectarian and bankrupt Hutu regime, spurred on by the greedy foreigners who are always hovering around with a lot of confusion and shallowness, thought that genocide was the solution to the “Tutsi” problem ─ just like Hitler with the Jews of Europe. Hence, to the bankrupt Hutu regime of Rwanda, there was a “Tutsi” problem, just like to Hitler was a “Jewish” problem in Europe. The second genocide of Rwanda of 1994 did not save the Hutu regime. The Hutu regime fled with a million people to Goma, Congo, with arms. With Mobutu’s support, they were threatening to re-invade Rwanda and finish their genocide programme. That is what started the first Congo war of 1996 that resulted in the down fall of Mobutu. Apart from Mobutu threatening to re-launch the Hutu reactionaries into Rwanda, he had also started a campaign against the Banyarwanda of Eastern Congo, especially the Tutsi ─ targeting a group known as Banyamulenge.

Up to now the presence of the Rwanda genocidaires in Eastern Congo has not been solved ─ leading to endless problems such as the 2^ndCongo war, the Nkunda uprising, the M-23, etc. All these have been linked to the original problem of the Rwandese genocidaires in Eastern Congo. Yet, this should never have been a problem if there was clarity. In order to avoid the Hutu diaspora of 1994 substituting for the Tutsi diaspora of 1959, the solution should have involved the right of return by those new exiles but with accountability for the crimes they committed using a graduated scale of separating the misleaders from the misled and being harsh on the former and lenient on the latter. If there are those that did not want to go back to Rwanda, they should have been removed from the border to deep inside Congo and should have been disarmed. This has never been done conclusively. This must be done. All the other eruptions have been the consequences of this mistake and the one of denying the Banyarwanda of Eastern Congo, especially the Tutsi, either overtly or covertly, the inalienable right to the land of their ancestry. To deal with the consequences without dealing with the cause is not a durable solution.

Meanwhile, the failure to handle the issue of diversity in the Sudan had generated a Civil War right from 1956, at the dawn of Independence of that country. The Southern Sudanese who spearheaded the rebellion against the Arab Government of the whole of Sudan after independence were very closely linked to our own Nilotic and Bantu peoples of Uganda, Kenya, Congo, Tanzania and Ethiopia. Therefore, some of the elements in Khartoum were always very suspicious of the neighbours. When our Movement won the protracted civil war in Uganda in 1986, against the fascist dictators of Uganda (Idi Amin and groups), some elements in Khartoum declared it as un acceptable and resolved to remove us, by force of arms from Government. Working with remnants of the old regimes (Obote, Amin, etc), they sponsored two groups: Kony’s so called LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) claiming to be Christians and ADF (Allied Democratic Front) claiming to establish Islamic fundamentalist rule in Uganda which is 86% Christian and where the tribes mainly practiced symbiosis of barter trade even before colonialism, apart from some few inter-tribal wars that were being promoted by myopic chiefs. We defeated the two groups. Where did they flee to? They fled to the poorly controlled areas of Eastern Congo and CAR. At one time, the Congo Government allowed us to flush Kony out of Garamba National Park.Otherwise, there has been the exercise of terrorism conservation in Eastern Congo supervised by the UN all these years ─ since 2003 when our army withdrew from Congo under the Lusaka Agreement. Fortunately, we are working well with the Congo Government to end the presence of the ADF in Eastern Congo and also our problems with Khartoum have improved.

Last year, the democratically elected Government of CAR was removed by a bankrupt, reactionary group known as Seleka while regional forces looked on. This bankrupt group entered the heavily populated Bangui, murdered people, raped women and looted the meagre properties of those already impoverished people. This is a real betrayal of our people. Why should we allow or tolerate armed groups overthrowing elected Governments in African unless they show that they are fighting genocidaires? After all, we should not forget that Hitler was elected in 1933. Even elected Governments can lose legitimacy if they do not respect, especially, the right to life and property. You cannot say that an elected Government has a right to kill people extra-judicially or loot their property.

Now that that bankrupt regime has collapsed in Bangui, I hope new problems will not be created for the people of CAR by those who are wheeling and dealing targeting the natural resources of CAR. Let the people elect their leaders freely, without interference or manipulation and let the elected leaders respect the legitimate interests of all the citizens of the country without discrimination.

Recently, we had an outbreak of serious fighting in our young brother country of South Sudan . There are two versions of how that fighting started. The Government says that there was an attempted coup which was defeated in Juba but spreading to the Provinces: Bentiu, Jonglei and Malkal. The opposition says that it is the Government that provoked the fighting by trying to disarm some of the soldiers on a sectarian basis. The truth will come out with time. What is clear is that the problem started within the SPLM, the ruling party, as a power struggle. You detect ideological, organizational and discipline issues in this situation. Why should there be sectarian undertones or overtones in a political debate? Why should intraparty matters go public before they are resolved within the party? Why should we have so many reported killings, lootings of people’s property, etc. but never hear of soldiers who are executed for committing those crimes by the different actors in these situations? We were able to stabilize Uganda in security terms but also in politics by disciplining the Army. You kill a person or you rape a woman, you are a dead person in the very place where you committed the crime.

Coming back to the issue of whether there was an attempted coup in South Sudan or not, the question is: “If Riak Macher did not plan a coup in Juba, then why did his supporters capture Malakal, Bor, Akobo, etc?” The SPLA has flushed them out of Bentiu and Malakal. Only the other day, 13^th of January, the SPLA and elements of our army had a big battle with these rebel troops at a point about 90 kms from Juba where we inflicted a big defeat on them. Unfortunately, many lives were lost on the side of the rebels. We also took casualties and also had some dead. By yesterday evening, the Government of South Sudan, with the support from our troops, had regained control of Jemeza and the SPLA troops, on their own , had gone ahead to Sudan Safaari. In my opinion, if Riak Machar had not planned a coup and it had all been mistakes on the Government side, he could have done two things: withdraw to a remote area of the country to avoid attack and to start talks unconditionally so as to resolve the problem quickly and not to protract it. The SPLM party should resolve their disagreements within those structures. If some people are not satisfied with the SPLM, they should go out and form another Party and the Government should neither stop them nor impede them. However, to turn a political problem into a military one, having mismanaged the political problem itself in the first place is not acceptable.

In my view, the problems, of the Great Lakes, as already stated have been ideological, organizational and the discipline of the actors. The manipulation of tribes and religions is a pseudo ideology ─ is a false ideology ─ not reflecting the interests of the people but those of the opportunists and parasites ─ spurred on by foreign interests.

I always like to use the example of my tribe the Banyankore, who are cattle keepers and grow bananas, coffee and tea. How does my tribe benefit me as an individual producer of the four commodities? I produce milk and beef and so do my neighbours. They cannot buy from me because they are producing similar products and nor can I buy from them. The people who make me rich and prosperous are the people of Kampala, the people of Kigali in Rwanda, the people of Nairobi in Kenya, the people of Bukoba and Mwanza in Tanzania, the people of Juba in South Sudan, the people of Eastern Congo and Burundi, who buy my milk and beef. The only support the people of my tribe render me, is that by producing similar products in big volumes, they make processing and marketing easy. Even if I only cared about my tribe, I would have to care about the whole of Uganda, the whole of East African, the whole of the Great Lakes because it is those that give us prosperity by buying what is produced in my locality. It is, therefore, the parasites that promote this pseudo ─ ideology. With the conflicts in Eastern Congo and South Sudan, the food prices in Uganda have collapsed to the detriment of the farmers that were getting used to the higher prices because of the bigger demand in the region. It is only the parasites who do not engage in production that do not see these issues.

The last problem of the Great Lakes is lack of infrastructure ─ roads, the railways, electricity, piped water and ICT backbone. It shows you the great potential of the region that business is booming, provided there is peace, even when the infrastructure is absent. What would happen if there was peace, infrastructure and free ─ trade? The sky would be the limit.

Down with the pseudo–ideology, down with opportunism, down with parasitism, down with the indiscipline and impunity of soldiers and long live infrastructure development, peace and socio transformation of the Great Lakes.

I am always very happy to come to Luanda, Angola, because I started working with the MPLA in 1967 in Dar-es-Salaam with Dr. Augustinho Noto, Dr. Boavida and other comrades. I am always very happy to associate with the old freedom fighters in Angola, Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, etc. It is always a pleasure to be here.

I thank Your Excellencies.

15^th January, 2014Luanda, Angola