Fellow country women and country men, It is my distinct honor and privilege to heartily welcome you here. You are most welcome. Fellow Ugandans, We live in difficult political and economic times. Times where meeting basic needs of life is almost a 24 hour preoccupation and as result there is an increasing threat of most of our people to disengage from the political process. I therefore take this opportunity to thank you for sacrificing your very valuable time amidst pressing responsibilities and tight schedules to be present as I officially launch my pursuit for nomination as FDC Flag bearer and subsequently to the presidency of our beautiful and beloved country Uganda. This campaign is not about me I it is about us, it’s about, our future, the future of our children and grand children and the future of our country and the choices we make today will determine the kind of future that we desire to have and as it is said in the business arena, you never get what you deserve but what you negotiate for and in politics, we will only get what we commit to work for, what we choose to work for. I come to you friends at a very critical moment in the history of our country. Our country faces extraordinary challenges that require men and women of good will, men and women who have the dedication to serve. We need leaders who are guided and motivated by a culture of service beyond self, who have come to a conclusion in their life that the only way to benefit is to benefit the community, leaders who have come to a realization that they are just branches and the country is a tree, who have realized that just like a branch is to a tree, if the tree is not nourished or watered, the branch itself is not going to be watered and nourished. This fact not only applies to the leaders but to the people as well. Over the last decade, we have witnessed dramatic reversals that have shaken the constitutional foundations of our governance system and the unity of our nation. Our economy has been growing but only benefitting the few while the majority of our people from Koboko to Busia, from Moroto to Kisoro and from Mukono to Gulu live in abject poverty. Fellow countrymen and women, you know as much as I do, that our country is in a state of strife. The country can no longer feed its people. There is growing dictatorship that can no longer provide healthy care to its citizens or to its children a competitive and rewarding education. Equally important is that, we have witnessed the fading of the bonds of tove and patriotism that have always made us believe in our capacity as a people even in the face of uncertainty. These are the same bonds that have sustained our hope in the face of despair. What has stopped us from meeting these challenges is not the absence of sound policies but rather a failure of the regime under Yoweri Museveni as president.
These challenges require men and women of good will to say "enough is enough/' It is at times like these that new leadership with new ideas and a new promise for a better future become the defining aspiration of a people. Time has come for a president who will be honest about the challenges and choices we face as a country. A leader who just won't tell you slogans that you may want to hear but rather what you need to know in order to create a new political and economic dispensation. It is because of the enormity of this challenge that I have decided to offer myself to provide that leadership and create an environment where every Ugandan feels respected and his/her contribution acknowledged. In this campaign, we do not seek to diminish the achievements of the last 48 years of independence . On the contrary, we cherish the contributions of everyone of our leaders of this great nation; from the Late Musaazi to Sir Edward Mutesa. From the Late Ben Kiwanuka to the Late Apollo Milton Obote. From the Late Idi Amin to the Late Yusuf Lule. From the Godfrey Binaisa to the Late Tito Okello Lutwa. And to President Museveni who has ruled our country for 24 years. Each one of those have had their successes and failures only varied in magnitude. We will seek to build on the cumulative successes over time and be wise enough to learn from the mistakes so that there is no repeat. I believe that with a new leadership, we can rise up to the challenge, we can transform this nation, that our generation can end extreme poverty in our nation’s prosperity equally. I believe that we can be the generation that will work to improve our education and health system. Above all, that it is not too late to change the political culture of our nation, a culture that focuses on the change in ideology and not mere change in guards, a political culture and to realize that we as a nation share a common destiny. The reality of the matter is that a country is like human body where an injury to any part of the body however small is a cause of discomfort to the entire body and it's a realization that we must all wake up to. We cannot deny the achievements made under the National Resistance Movement over the last two decades. In many ways, a semblance of law and order was created across the country save for the unfortunate situation in northern Uganda. The creation of a macroeconomic environment has occasioned A STEADY AND RELATIVELY economic growth rate. On a sad note however, the benefits have benefited a few. The majority of our people continue to live in abject poverty. The current government should therefore understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience. As noted earlier, we are a paralyzed nation because it is deliberately created by the regime and perpetuated by the pettiness of our politicians. Let us examine these 3 examples. We know that an honest and responsible leadership can guide a country to resolve the outstanding questions of how we govern ourselves as a people. For example, the current impasse between Buganda and the central government, the immigrant question in Bunyoro and the strife in Tororo district.
All these challenges are a clear manifestation; of the failed development and governance policies that have been pursued by the President Museveni over the last 15 years. Fellow country men and women, over the last decade, our government has devoted its energy and our resources to creating order than creating justice and tranquility for our people. We have a regime that seems to believe that peace is the absence of conflict yet we believe that peace is the presence of justice. For you can have people that drive OR WALK around in their daily business and seem as though there is peace yet the same people have pain in their heart as a consequence of the injustice they face from a sitting regime. Those are seeds of conflict waiting to erupt. We believe that we have reached that defining moment in life when the reserves of endurance in man are exhausted, when it is not rewarding any more to be patient, when it is time for a nation as beautiful as ours, with a people as Courageous as many of you in this room and elsewhere, to stand up and say "ENOUGH is ENOUGH" AS Juliana's song says NABIKOOWA. There are those of us who will fear change. Within our Party, there are those of you who will say, why now? Why not maintain the status quo? Within the country, there are those who will say why challenge the incumbent Party president? Why not wait until 2016? But let me tell you something: My compatriot and colleague in this race Dr. Kiiza Besigye has provided leadership to our Party with dedication and commitment. In his pursuit to create a better country for all of us, he and his family has endured harassment and persecution. We applaud him and we shall forever remain indebted to him both as a party. But change is a natural process. The biggest impediment to the progress of man and society is the FEAR of change. All political parties that have failed to manage change because of fear for it have ended it in a state of decline. Our candidacy will reshape politics, reshape campaigns and when we take over the mantle of leadership, reshape government to ensure that it builds the necessary partnership where all individuals are stakeholders because we believe that at the core of the national development is not the oil, never the land and not any other natural resources but human resource Adequate, conscience and focused investment in our citizenry will be the spark that sets us unto the path of sustainable economic growth and development. When that is accomplished, Ugandans will surely become the masters of their economy and politics rather than mere spectators. By harnessing the ingenuity of our farmers and farming households, we will create robust and prosperous communities that reclaim their power as declared in our constitution. Even in the face of growing terror and fear, we shall stand up in unison to defend our freedoms and build a new Uganda. We seek to build a new chapter in our country where we are free from fear, poverty, injustice where we establish bonds that will seek to move beyond the current
ethnic, generation and partisan paralysis to the greater heights of human dignity and national identity. Let me make a solemn pledge to you fellow country women and men. When we win this primary campaign, together we will move with a common purpose, with determination and confidence to win the general elections. I pledge to you that I will be the president who restores your moral standing. A president who understands that the traumatic history we have endured as nation is not a way to scare up votes but a challenge that should unite us as a country to face the common challenges of the 21 century. I pledge to you that WE AS A NATION will stand up high and say no to corruption, and say no to those who pretend to lead us and instead adopt policies and actions that divide us as a nation. WE AS A NATION will stand together and say never again shall our youth be pushed to the margins of our economy and when they demand for jobs opportunities is legitimate AS A NATION we shall increase investment in the health care system and recognize the vulnerability of the women and pregnant mothers of this country who have suffered at the hands of a broken down healthy system. AS A NATION we shall stand together to uplift our farming community in this country who through their labor and effort feed each the whole nation and yet they live in abject poverty AS A NATION, we will stand together again and say no to a corrupt leadership that pretends to fight corruption and fails to hold accountable its cadres are sweeping clean our treasury. Because, we know that corruption is the cancer that has eaten right at the core of politics and our economy. Above all, I will always stand by you, listen to especially in the face of disagreements and together I believe, we will rise together as the people and make our nation a better home for all of us the future generation. In all my life, I have believed in justice and fair play, transparency even handedness, democracy and freedom. These are values that have guided ME in my military and political career. I have not only believed but done everything that is humanly possible to practice them in every office I have held. These are values the practice of which I believe create a firm foundation for a country's growth and development process. I know there are millions of Ugandans with whom I share the same values, and millions of Ugandans who deeply believe in these values and are frustrated that governance based on these values still eludes us. As we speak, millions of Ugandans live in a state of quiet desperation.
However this is our country, No one else will cause the change that we need and deserve. We have choices to make, and we must choose to recover our country from the hands of a regime that has lost a sense of shame. Fellow countrymen, we have got ….days to the Presidential Elections, we ask of you that for every passing day, week, month, you prepare yourself for just one day, gather the courage and the will to change the destiny of our country the shape our future THROUGH YOUR VOTE AND DETERMINATION TO PROTECT IT and if you don't do it, the reality of the matter is that we will go through 365 days each year for 5 years of worse desperation. We want specifically to address ourselves to our people in the EAST outside of Teso, in Buganda and in the west to gather the necessary courage to change the situation for not to do that, is to directly participate perpetuation of the hemorrhage of our country and to use the excuse of fear is no longer excusable. I want to take this opportunity to thank our people in WESTNILE, ACHOLI, and LANGO AND TESO for the courage they have taken to vote for what they believe in and take courage to protect it. For the youth, register and prepare to vote for not to vote is to leave your future in the hands of whoever has wishes to shape it in whichever manner they wish to. ONE SINGLE DAY, that voting day in February 2011 surely, you can gain the courage to vote and effect the necessary change if for nothing else but for the future of your children and grand children PSALMS 20:7-8 SOME TRUST IN CHARIOTS AND SOME IN HORSES, WE WILL TRUST IN THE NAME OF THE LORD. THEY ARE BROUGHT TO THEIR KNEES AND FALL, BUT WE WILL RISE UP AND STAND FIRM. For God and my country. ONE UGANDA ONE PEOPLE