Museveni to present State of the nation address tomorrow

President Museveni will tomorrow,  Thursday address the nation on the current situation and developments in the country.

Article 101 (1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda provides that "The President shall, at the beginning of each session of Parliament, deliver to Parliament an address on the state of the nation."

The address will take place at the Kampala Serena Conference Centre starting at 2pm and will mark the beginning of the next session for parliament.

The President is expected to talk about a number of issues, including the recent spate of armed robberies.

Last week, six thugs armed with guns and riding on three motorcycles raided Cheap hardware in Nansana killing three people including one of the managers and left others injured.

They would later rob the hardware shop of an unspecified sum of money.

According to eye witnesses business came to a standstill for over 20 minutes when the robbers wearing masked sealed off Hoima road without any vehicle allowed to move.

They later fired bullets in the air to dispel off any possible attacker before robbing the hardware shop in broad day light before taking off with their loot.

Earlier, there had been another armed robbery in Mpererwe along Gayaza road in which huge sums of money were stolen from a supermarket.

There was also an attempted robbery at Fang Fang Restaurant in which three UPDF soldiers were arrested by ISO operatives on Saturday.

The President is therefore expected to comment about the robberies and the remedies by security including the recently recruited Local Defence Unit personnel to complement police efforts in fighting crime.

Museveni is also likely to comment about his recent countrywide operation wealth creation drive and its progress as well as the revival of the national carrier that had been grounded for over 20 years.

The recent mudslide catastrophe in Bududa is also likely not to miss in Museveni’s state of the nation on Thursday.

The head of state is expected to comment on the frosty relationship between Uganda and her neighbor, Rwanda.

The sour relations be of once good neighbors came more pronounced early this year when Rwanda closed its borders not allowing their citizens from crossing to Uganda but also stopping Ugandan good from proceeding to Kigali.

The recent manifestation of the cold relations was a May 24 gruesome incident at Hamisavu trading centre, Kisekye parish, Kamwezi sub -county in Rukiga district inside the Ugandan territory when a Ugandan and Rwandan national were shot dead by the Rwandan army.

Rwanda has for long accused Uganda of arresting and detaining a number of their citizens while in Kampala and also supporting dissidents fighting the Kigali establishment.

However, the Ugandan government has denied the allegations, saying they can never be traitors to support rebels against their neighbors.

The Kampala establishment has also said all the Rwandan citizens arrested and detained in Uganda are facing charges and are in lawful custody after committing several crimes.

President Museveni is therefore expected to comment on the matter when he addresses the nation on Thursday.

According to experts, the State of the Nation Address is more than a President’s speech but rather his  political accountability duty that he has to perform satisfactorily.