Museveni hails “brave” Irene Birungi as she launches new book

President Yoweri Museveni has described Irene Birungi Mugisha as a very brave, enthusiastic and a determined person who has immense thirst for knowledge.

“I want to congratulate Irene Mugisha for being a brave girl and for being enthusiastic, determined and also who has the thirst to learn,” Museveni said.

He was speaking during the launch of her new book titled, ‘The CEO in you. The Changemaker’ in which she provides tools and insights on becoming a changemaker, starting with one’s life.

During the launch at State House in Nakasero, the president revealed her first encounter with Birungi who is currently serving as his private secretary in charge of administration.

“I first met Irene in Thailand because the late Mulwana had some business connection with Thailand and they had organized a big conference there. Irene was introduced to me as a journalist who was writing about economy or business. I could see that she was thirsty for knowledge,” Museveni said.

He  added that Birungi  was later enrolled in his office at State House, and he noted that she was very much interested in the line of business to the point of initiating some programs like the CEOs’ forum.

“She was the one who brought up the idea of CEOs’ forum. There was another one called the Presidential Round table by Baroness Linder Chalker, but this one of the CEOs’ is open, bigger and more comprehensive. So, Irene was the pioneer of the CEO’s Forum,” the President said.

Museveni also thanked the keynote speaker Precious Murena for her insight and analysis on the challenges facing the African continent.

“I thank the speaker from Zimbabwe I really like to see young people struggling with knowledge and I like the idea you are talking of new ventures. The message is: you people of Africa-wake up and make up your own analysis. When you make your own analysis, in medicine it is called diagnosis, next thing you must do is the prescription-then the medicine,” he  said.

He pointed out that the main problem of human history has been the wrong analysis of challenges faced by the people of the continent.

He added that some societies end up failing or succeeding partially and get into problems.

Museveni said many European thinkers fronted theories trying to understand production in society for wealth creation citing Karl Marx, Adam Smith and the French physiocrats who believed that agriculture was the only source of wealth.

He noted that some of the European thinkers made some contributions but have run out of ideas unlike the Chinese who are doing very well by borrowing capitalist ideas and mixing them with socialist ones.

“When you talk of change you must correctly assess which are the facets that should be shed off and the ones that must continue,” he stressed.

He reiterated his gratitude to see that the young generation of the country has a lot of thirst for knowledge.

“Just like it is written in the Bible that blessed are they who thirst for the word of God—blessed are you the young people who are thirsty for knowledge.”

The Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja thanked Museveni for empowering women in the country especially for appointing them to serve in top government positions.

The author of the book Irene Birungi who was flanked by her spouse Maurice Mugisha and family members was very delighted to see her work that started three years ago during the onset of the COVID-19 come to fruition.

She thanked President Museveni for gracing the occasion and all stakeholders including her family members for their support.

Birungi recommended the book to be distributed in universities, tertiary institutions as well as secondary schools in the country.

In her citation , Dr.Ruth Biyinzika described Irene as an exceptionally intelligent, hardworking, principled and incorruptible down to earth lady who handles tasks with excellent knowledge.

Precious Murena from Zimbabwe rooted for education as a vehicle that will produce the future generation that will be able to solve challenges faced by the African continent.

She applauded the First Lady Janet Museveni for programs being run under her Ministry of Education and Sports but also  President Museveni for allowing women working in State House like Birungi  to flourish.

“We are celebrating Irene in the month of women. It was not easy to achieve this in a parochial society. I applaud President Museveni for allowing women in State House to flourish,” she said.

President Museveni earlier in the auctioning of the books bought 1,000 copies of the book.

Others who bought the books included the Prime Minister Robina Nabanja, the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Norbert Mao, the Minister of State for Trade David Bahati and  the representative of the private sector Charles Mbiire and the Chief Executive of MTN among others.