KENYATTA UNIVERSITY MOB PRESIDENT MUSEVENI
News coming in from Kenya is that a handful of activists in Nairobi led by one Boniface Mwangi were trying to mobilize students at Kenyatta University to boycott a lecture by President Museveni this afternoon, but wapi!
The idea was not bought. The mobilizers have been left with egg on their faces. Not only is the ampi-theatre filled to capacity with eager students but hundreds more have been forced to stay outside because they could not squeeze in. It’s an electric mood as the students await President Museveni’s lecture on African Integration. Details of the lecture will follow.
Meanwhile yesterday President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni with President Uhuru Kenyatta, addressed the Kenya-Uganda Business Forum at the Sarova White Sands Hotel in Mombasa in the evening. They were meeting under the theme ‘Strengthening Economic and Trade Partnership’.
For a long time, from the Egyptian Civilization, through the Roman Empire and the Renaissance Age, there lacked clarity on how exactly nations should make wealth. It was Adam Smith in 1776 who seemed to offer concrete, practical answers to this question.
It is now clear that a country’s wealth is created by the private sector. The role of government is to make sure the environment is conducive for the private sector to thrive.
In Uganda’s case, Museveni said we are focusing on reducing costs of doing business by ensuring steady supply of cheap electricity, working on infrastructure like roads and the railway, while also capitalizing UDB so that manufacturers can borrow money at low interest.
Our emphasis and push for integration is hinged on the fact that we need a big market for the products produced by our private sector. You cannot only rely on your internal market. It is why we preach EAC unity, COMESA and now the Continental Free Trade Area.
I must thank the Kenyan government and President Uhuru in particular for ensuring that goods destined for Uganda are cleared in shortest time possible at the Mombasa Port. It is something we had grappled with for a while but was fixed the moment President Uhuru came to office.
We also look forward to partnering on other projects with our Kenyan brothers. For example, they have offered us land to build a dry port at Naivasha. The SGR is a project we are partnering on.
Also, we shall take advantage of the petroleum facility built in Kisumu so that we transport our petroleum products across Lake Victoria and save our roads from wear and tear occasioned by the heavy trucks.