Yasiin Mugerwa
29 April 2011
Kampala — President Museveni yesterday insisted that there is nothing his government can do to stop the skyrocketing prices even when some participants at a post-election review conference knelt before him, pleading on behalf of Ugandans who are going hungry.
The President, who vowed to suppress public protests against the rising inflation, said prices are not set by government, they are fixed by market forces of demand and supply. He said when the price of milk declined to Shs200 per litre in Rwakitura (his country home) as a farmer, he neither went on strike nor smashed windows as the opposition is doing.
“The economy is beginning to develop and we are feeling the pressure which is good,” the President said. “It’s good that the economy is forcing us to talk about the politics of our stomachs instead of engaging in tribal politics. (But) asking me to reduce prices, you’re not serious, the government cannot do that. The prices can only go down through increased production.”
The President was speaking at a post-election conference in Kampala organised by Inter-Religious Council of Uganda. The summit, among others, sought to address the post- February 2011 election challenges facing the country today.
Energy factor
He reiterated that the country needs money to build dams and roads and that investing in consumption cannot offer the foundation for national development. He said the government collected Shs700 billion from the fuel levy which is only one-third of the money needed to construct Karuma dam.
“If the problem is food, we have the money to import food, but we cannot abandon Karuma and subsidise food prices,” Mr Museveni said. “When a country has no electricity that’s a sign of bad governance and a country cannot modernise unless there is electricity. It’s only modernisation that can cure poverty.”
On the conduct of the police in quelling the work to work protests, the President said he was very happy with the way police have handled the protests and regretted incidents in Gulu, Kampala and Masaka where at least five people were shot dead.
“There were few mistakes in some areas like Masaka where a child was maliciously killed. But police has acted professionally. They have controlled rioters not to loot other peoples’ property. I am satisfied police have stopped looting which is part of the aim for the organisers of these riots.”
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