Speech by President Benjamin William Mkapa at a State Banquet Hosted in Honour of President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of Uganda at the State House, Dar Es Salaam, on 20th September, 1996.
Your Excellency Yoweri Kaguta Museveni,
President of the Republic of Uganda,
Hon. Prime Minister Frederick Sumaye,
Honourable Ministers,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
Allow me to interrupt your meal - not for too long I hope - for what I consider to be a supremely worthy purpose. Africans are renowned for their generosity. We like, and indeed consider it an honour, to share not only our food but our thoughts as well. It is for this reason that I should like to share with you what is in my heart on this auspicious occasion of the visit of our brothers and sisters from Uganda.
I speak not from the head but straight from the heart as one should speak to a brother or sister. In that spirit, I am pleased on behalf of the Government and People of Tanzania, to welcome you once again to Dar es Salaam and to Tanzania. Our people have always considered you, Mr. President, and the People of Uganda as their brothers and sisters. I am sure I speak for them when I say: "Karibuni sana na Mjisikie Nyumbani". We wish you and all members of your delegation a most pleasant and fruitful stay in our country.
Mr. President,
The affinity that the people of our two countries feel for each other is not the creation of their present or recent leaders. It is a fact of history that predates the day the Europeans met in Berlin over a century ago to draw lines on the map of Africa that cut across communities they hardly knew and which had for long considered themselves as one people.
You, Mr. President, are a more accomplished historian and anthropologist than myself. I, therefore, made a point of consulting history books so as to enhance my knowledge of the historical links between our two countries and peoples in advance of your visit. I have learnt, for instance, that the Kingdom of BUHAYA obtained its kings (ABAKAMA) from Ankole. The first such kings were Omukama Nono for the Karagwe Kingdom; Omukama Kairo for the Ihangiro Kingdom; Omukama Mate ga Lulinga for the Kihanja Kingdom; Omukama Magembe for the Kiziba Kingdom and Omukama Kibunga for the Bukara Kingdom. They all shared a mother called "NJUNAKI", and each new king had to be installed in power by the king of Ankole. The Kingdom structures were also the same with a king (Omukama), his Prime Minister (KATIKIRO) and Ministers (ABARAMATA). Furthermore, the presence of the ABAH IMA and ABAHINDA in both countries, and also the BAGANDA-KYAKA in Tanzania, provides further testimony to these historical links across our common border.
Mr. President,
Our people have always felt at home on either side of the border as they undertake together activities in business, culture, education and health. Mulago used to be a referral hospital for the people of Bukoba. Kampala was their centre, not far-off Dar es Salaam. Sometimes we have problems in identifying the Tanzanians living in Minziro because their vernacular is Luganda. (so much for Swahili �. JS) In this context, the traditional bonds that we are cementing today have been in existence for ages. We are only following on the footsteps of our ancestors.
It is also a happy coincidence that while Your Excellency is a graduate of the University of Dar es salaam, I am a graduate of Makerere University. You and I, therefore, stand out as vivid expressions of the many years of friendship and cooperation between our two countries. Naturally thus, it is incumbent upon us to champion the cause of East African Cooperation.
Your visit should enable us and our two sides to agree on new ways to expand, deepen and enrich the excellent bilateral relations between our two Governments, our two countries, our two Peoples, and the private enterprises in our two countries. I add the private enterprises out of a firm conviction that they have a critical role to play in promoting bilateral relations. This is a role we must encourage, and I am glad that during your visit you will be meeting our business people as well. When you meet them please encourage them to be as active as their Ugandan counterparts.
Mr. President,
On this, your first State Visit to Tanzania since your election, I should like, on behalf of the Government and the People of Tanzania, and on my own behalf, to congratulate you once again for a very impressive and indeed landslide victory that would make any politician green with envy. HONGERA SANA!!
This victory is a clear manifestation of the trust and confidence that the People of Uganda have in you and the policies you stand for. For the past ten years you have been in office, you have proved to be a competent, visionary, tolerant, skillful and uniting leader. It is your proven track record in bringing peace and stability, as well as social and economic development, that made the majority of the People of Uganda say: "No change!!". The celebratory joy I saw on the faces of the people lining the road from Entebbe to Kampala on 11th May 1996 as they shouted "No Change!!" will always remain etched in my mind. (was he just being ironical, I wonder �JS)
But it is not only the People of Uganda who are happy with you. The people of Tanzania likewise have great admiration for you and all you have done for Uganda. You have set an example that my people now challenge me to emulate in our country. They wish to believe that your time at the University of Dar es Salaam contributed to giving you the intellectual tools that eventually turned you into a distinguished political leader, economic reformer, and an African Statesman we all feel proud of. Today, we hope that in turn some of your magic can rub off on us that we too can achieve faster social and economic development.
We commend you for creating a stable macro-economic framework and putting in place prudent economic policies the results of which have won accolades for you and Uganda across the world. Economic growth has averaged 6% if not more; inflation is down to only 2.4%; the size of your GDP has doubled from USD 3 bi. in 1986 to USD 6 bi. today; and revenue collection has risen tremendously. As a result, Uganda is now self-reliant in financing her own recurrent budget as well as 30% of her development budget. (was he just being ironical, I wonder �JS) We in Tanzania who have for long preached the imperative need fo r self reliance have a lot to learn from you. Our dignity as a people and as a nation demands that each year we move further and further from the shadow of dependency and increase the scope of our self-reliance.
We also commend the people of Uganda for undertaking peaceful changes in their political system and charting out their own democratic system that truly takes into account their history, common experience and present circumstances as a people and as a nation. For, while there are indisputably basic and universal principles of democracy and good governance, the institutions through which democracy is exercised, and the actual applications of democracy, have to be adapted to suit the objective of, and the obtaining situation in, each particular country.
Mr. President,
The liberation from poverty is a difficult struggle, often more daunting than the political one. It is a struggle that demands new strategies and new tools. One such strategy is regional integration in the spirit of South-South Cooperation. We have high hopes for the new opportunities for regional cooperation and development offered by the renewed spirit of East African Cooperation. This will also increase the scope for trade, and make East Africa more attractive to foreign investment. Our three East African countries together with Burundi and Rwanda constitute an economic space of about 90 million people. This provides a market that can capture the interest of investors unlike our individual, single economies, however attractive we try to make them to both domestic and foreign investors.
Mr. President,
Our three governments clearly have a major facilitating role to play in the evolving regional cooperation and integration in East Africa. But it is our business communities that will be key players and major beneficiaries in the implementation of our desire for closer cooperation and economic integration. Our three Governments on their part have the duty to create an enabling institutional, legal and administrative environment for the private sector to be able to play this role effectively.
One area that needs urgent government involvement is in the improvement of infrastructure. Improved roads, railwaylines, inland water, maritime and air transport as well as posts and telecommunications links will greatly enhance intra-regional trade and investment. (this was apparently lost ost on Kaguta�s son �.JS) I wish to assure you of our unflinching commitment to East African Co-operation and our desire to cooperate with you and our Kenyan colleagues to create a conducive environment for enhanced regional cooperation and integration in East Africa.
Mr. President,
Tanzania being a littoral state honours her obligation to provide sea access to landlocked countries. In this regard, Tanzania has modernized the Dar es Salaam Port and improved the central railway corridor so as to render better services to our landlocked neighbours. (translation: you have been in office for 10 years and counting, what the heck have you been doing all this time? Get with the program! � JS) In this respect, Uganda is invited to make full use of these modern facilities. I am glad to note that the volume of Ugandan transit cargo using the Dar es Salaam port has increased from 50,000 metric tons in 1993/94 to 95,000 metric t ons in 1995/96 - an increase of 90% over this two year period. Yet this welcome development has only managed to increase the share of Ugandan cargo using the port of Dar es Salaam from 5% two years ago to 10% now. It is an increase, but far too low still. We have taken the challenge to be more efficient and competitive earnestly so as to offer even better services to you, and hopefully be found worthy to handle more Ugandan transit goods. (Translation: are you listening or did you just come to eat my food? � JS)
Mr. President,
Allow me to take this opportunity to commend you for your tireless efforts and firm stand in the search for fair, equitable and durable solutions to the prevailing conflicts in the Great Lakes Region, particularly in Burundi. Our two countries, as well as our colleagues in the Great Lakes Region, have made it clear that the illegal and unconstitutional change of Government in Burundi cannot be allowed to stand. Africans and their leaders must now learn to respect and honour the verdict returned by the electorate. That is the essence of democracy, and he cannot claim to stand for democracy anyone who negates the supremacy of the peoples verdict expressed in a free and fair election. (Translation: don�t just pay lip service to democracy. Y ou must learn to respect the electorate�s verdict and the constitution � JS)
Mr. President,
You and I know that we, the leaders of the sub-region, do not derive any pleasure in imposing economic sanctions against the military junta in Bujumbura. Certainly we sympathise with the innocent people who are affected by the economic sanctions. But we know that the people of Burundi yearn for an end to the massacres and systematic assassinations going on in that country and are tired of perpetual political instability, injustice and bigotry.
Mr. President,
Of late, the military junta in Bujumbura has announced that they have restored the Parliament and unbanned political parties and asked us to lift the sanctions. We ask the military authority in Burundi to go further and address seriously the call by the Arusha II Summit for them to engage in unconditional negotiations with all parties in a return to the Mwanza Peace Process. I am consulting about holding an early Summit Meeting. Let us hope that by then concrete and verifiable evidence of the irreversibility of the implementation of these conditions will have been manifest and a case for a graded lifting of sanctions can be made.
Mr. President,
I promised not to keep our guests away from their food for too long. So I should like to end my speech by thanking you once again for honouring my invitation and for coming to see your Tanzanian friends, sisters and brothers. I now request all present to stand up, raise their glasses and join me in a toast:
- to the continued good health and happiness of H. E. President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni;
- to the continued peace and prosperity in Tanzania and Uganda;
- to the continued friendship and co-operation between Tanzania and Uganda.Thank you. (Translation: Hopefully some of this has sunk into your skull, you may resume engorging yourself�. JS )
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