Deputy National Youth Coordinator of National Unity Platform Greater Northern Uganda.
I visioned the Uganda of tomorrow .The Uganda we all want to see.
We want to observe tomorrow not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom, symbolising an end as well as a beginning, signifying renewal as well as change. For we will swear before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears abused for nearly 35years now.
Uganda will be different then. For man will hold in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human Rights poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears lied to us that they fought for are still at issue around the globe- the belief that the rights of man come not from generosity of the state but from the hands of God.
Fellow young men and women, we should dare not forget today that we shall be the heirs of the first true revolution in the history of Uganda. Let the word go forth from this time and era ,to friend and foe alike, that the torch will be passed to a new generation of Ugandans – born in the century, tempered by war, violence,who will be disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, touched by the ancient heritage and who will be unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights which to this nation Uganda has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.
This much we pledge and more.
To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origin we share, we pledge the loyalty of the faithful friends. United ,there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided, there is little we can do. For we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.
To those whom we will welcome to the new ranks of a free state, we pledge our word that one form of dictatorship shall not have passed away merely to be replaced by a far more iron tyranny. We shall not always expect to find them supporting our view. But we shall always hope to find them supporting their own freedom and to remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the Tigger ended up inside.
To the Ugandans in huts and villages across the country struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period that will be required, not because the Communist maybe doing it, not because we shall be seeking their votes , but because it is and will be right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, then it won’t save the few who are rich.
To our sisters in the northern boarders, we offer special pledge ,to convert our good words into good deeds ,in a new alliance for progress ,to assist free men and free governments in casting off the chains of poverty. But this peaceful revolution of hope has never and can not become the prey of hostile powers .
All ours neighbours should know that we shall join with them to oppose aggression or subversion anywhere in Africa. And other powers should know that the then hemisphere will intend to remain the master of it’s own house.
To the African Assembly of sovereign states , the United Nations, at that time , our last best hope In an age where the instruments of blood shade and violence will will have outpaced the instruments of peace. We will then renew of pledge of support to prevent it from from becoming merely a forum for invective ,to strengthen it’s shield of the new and the weak and to enlarge the area in which it’s writ will run.
Finally ,to those Nations who will make themselves our adversary , we will offer not a pledge but a request , that both sides begin a new quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self- destruction.
We will dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms shall be sufficient beyond doubt shall we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.
But then, neither will two great and powerful groups of Nations take comfort from our then course , both sides then overburdened by the cost of the modern weapons, both rightly alarmed alarmed by the steady spread of the deadly atom , yet then both racing to alter that uncertain balance of terror that stays the hand of mankind’s final battle.
So we should then begin new, remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of of weakness , and sincerity is always subject to prove. We should then never fear to negotiate.
Both sides should then explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.
Both sides should then, for the first time formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection and control of arms and bring the absolute power to destroy other states under the absolute control of all states.
Both side the, should seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of it’s terror . Together we shall have to explore the stars , conquer the deserts , eradicate disease ,tap the arts and commerce.
We shall then unite to heed in all corners of the earth the command of Isaiah, to “undo the heavy burdens and let the oppressed go free”.
And if a beachhead of cooperation shall push back the jungle of suspicion, and both sides will join in creating a new endeavor , not a new balance of power ,but a new world of law where the strong are just and the weak secure and the peace preserved.
All this will not be finished in the first 100 days nor will will it be finished in the first 1000 days, nor in the life of then administration ,nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet . We shall begin.
In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine , will rest the final success or failure of our course . Since this country was founded, each generation of Ugandans has been summoned to give testimony to it’s loyalty. The graves of young Ugandans who answered the call to service surround the globe.
Then the trumpet shall summon us again , not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need, not as a call to battle, though embattled we will be, but a call to bear the burdens of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out , “rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation” a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty , disease, and war itself.
Could we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance , North and South, East and West, that will then assure a more fruitful life for all historic efforts.
In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in it’s hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility ,I welcome it. I don’t believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy , the faith , the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who will serve it and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.
And so , my fellow Ugandans : ask not what your country can do for you ,ask what you can do for your country.
My fellow citizens of this great country; ask not what Uganda will do for you , but what together we can do for the freedom of man.
Finally , whether you are citizens of Uganda or citizens of the world ,ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you now and always.
With a good conscience our only sure reward , with history, present and future, the final judge of our deeds ,let us go forth to liberate the land we love, asking his blessings, and his help ,but knowing that here on Earth God’s work must truly be our own .
FOR GOD AND MY COUNTRY
