President Museveni on the new year said he has been to a court of law only once in his life and football is to blame for it.
Museveni narrated the ordeal during his New Year’s Address on 31st December 2022 while at his country home in Rwakitura, Western Uganda.
He said that trouble started when he got attracted to a game of football and the village tiki-taka made him so engrossed in the game that he forgot he was on a herding job for a second.
“The only time, I have entered a Court of Law, was in 1956, when, being attracted by a game of football, I joined the other boys (near Kame’s Kraal) for a moment of enjoying the sport as a player (because I was a good footballer), only to discover that the cattle I was herding had descended on a Mwanainchis luscious millet garden,” he said.
“Running at full speed, I tried to save whatever was remaining of the millet. It was, however, too late. I had committed the offence of Okwonesa,” he added.
He said that the temporary attraction to village football qualified him to appear before the Parish Court at Kikoni which sat under a tree.
“I was, then, coached, I do not remember by who, to say: “omushaango ningwikyiriiza” –I plead guilty to the charge –and that by so doing, it will be better for everybody,” he narrated.
He said that the case was swift as the plea of guilt helped matters, in the end, his father Mzee Amos Kaguta had to pay compensation to the citizen whose millet had been eaten by the cattle.
President Museveni used the story to elaborate that there is a time for everything, a time to work and play. He called upon the bazukulu to concentrate on work when it is time to work and avoid games during work time.
