President Museveni has hailed the Indian community in Uganda as reliable partners to the country.
The president said apart from investing in the country, the Indian community has helped to create employment in the country.
“In Uganda we have got real partners because you bring in new skills, new energies and you find our own indigenous energies and the combination is a big achievement. Some of the Indian families like Mehta and Madhvani in the sugar industry have contributed a lot in that sector for a long time and others are active in other areas,” Museveni said.
The president was on Saturday afternoon while commissioning the newly built Shree Sahajanand School Uganda in Bukoto, a donation by Hasmukh Patel, the chairman of Tororo Cement and the Indian Shree Kutchi Leva Patel community as part of their corporate social responsibility.
Recalling the old days, Museveni said as far as the 50s and 60s, Indians were helping Uganda in form of trade by bringing goods that Ugandans didn’t have and later buying what Ugandans were producing.
“These Indians were not farmers, cattle keepers, or crops people but traders. They were brining what we didn’t have and taking what we had. They would bring sugar, soap, textiles, paraffin and we would sell them our milk and crops. I welcome the efforts of this group and I thank you for the school and hospital but above all the cement factory. We shall give you all the support,” Museveni said.
“By doing that, you are solving the problem of unemployment by creating jobs, you consume electricity which you pay for and also consume water. We can have nothing except happiness for your input.”
According to Hasmukh Patel, the chairman of Tororo Cement that donated the school said they first helped complete a Church in Bukoto before embarking on constructing the school and their own temple that he described as the most modern high-tech in the entire world among the Shree community.
“In our community, you build your neighbor’s house first and then you build your own. When we came here, we found St Andrews Church half- finished and we completed it, and then started building our temple. We are also building a hospital near the school which will be the most sophisticated hospital in Uganda,”Hasmukh.
The school
According to Moses Kirinya, the principal of Shree Sahajanand School, the school will open with the new academic term on February has a nursery section and primary classes from P.1 to P.4 and targets a population of about 1500 pupils.
“The school has come to benefit all Ugandans and not only those of Asian origin. It will be based on the Ugandan curriculum and to be examined by UNEB. We expect parents from all over Kampala to bring their children to the school. We promise high quality education,”Kirinya said.
“Research will be made, we have libraries and our home work will be blended, both online and physical. We are bringing a model of education which has not been around in this country.”
The function was also attended by His Holiness Acharya Koshalendra Prasadji.
