President Yoweri Museveni on Tuesday, had the honour to speak at the inauguration ceremony of President William Samoi Ruto, Kenya’s 5th President and as usual, he didn’t disappoint.
President Ruto calling Museveni “the father of our region”, said none of the politicians has been fronting the idea of East African integration but rather they concentrated on the development of Kenya alone.
During his brief speech at the Kasarani Stadium , the president encouraged leaders to unite further to become an economic force to reckon with.
He also appealed to African leaders to embrace wealth creation at local , regional and integrate levels.
Museveni stated that much as Africa is blessed with natural resources, they are worthless until leaders understand how to create prosperity. He says people are concentrating at the level of Neo colonial science which is dangerous.
“You are talking of distributing resources, where will they come from? I appeal to all the political class in Africa to answer that question.Where does prosperity come from? According to my experience of 60 years, I would advise Africans to know that prosperity comes from ‘wealth creation’. You may have natural resources but don’t get wealth out of them.” he said
The President linked wealth creation to high employment levels that would in-turn mean prosperity for all.
“Wealth is not the same as Natural Resources, Wealth comes from commercial Agriculture, manufacturing, services like hotels and ICT. For-instance, If I own a hotel, its my wealth and it creates jobs for Kenyans or Ugandans. That is the link between wealth and jobs,” he stated
Museveni said that in order for East Africa meet standards of developed economies like United States of America,having regional markets and creating jobs is key.
“In order for us to catch up with the United States of America, we must consider the issue of regional markets because when you produce, who buys from you? the more people that buy from you, the better for business and job creation,” he added
The East African Community now comprises seven member states including Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Kenya, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Somalia is also bidding to join the bloc.
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