Last Updated on: 10th May 2023, 07:29 pm
Kololo, Kampala, May 10, 2023: The President and Commander in Chief Gen (Rtd) Yoweri Kaguta Museveni on Wednesday urged all peace-loving Ugandans to retract the NRA doctrine that ushered in peace and social-economic transformation.
President Museveni made the above remark during the State funeral service in honour of the late Minister of State for Labor, Employment and Industrial Relations Col (Rtd) Charles Okello Engola Macodwogo at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds in Kampala.
Museveni said that the NRA doctrine encouraged the masses to follow the correct ideology that called for service, other than pay to liberate the country.
For a developing country like Uganda, he wondered where it would get the resources to satisfy everyone at ago, noting that rewards would eventually be realised but in a “segmented and gradual manner”.
He said the country is currently peaceful.
“Go back to the NRA doctrine and don’t put pressure on the government to increase allowances or pay. If you want money the hard way, you become a mercenary, ” he elaborated.
He urged mourners not to reduce the cause of death of the late Minister to low pay in the army, adding that only the final death report will direct authorities on the cause of action.
Museveni expressed his disappointment about the work of some politicians and civil servants involved in bribes or corruption, warning them that very soon he will crack his whip, starting with Northern Uganda and later the Greater Masaka sub-region.
“We must examine and get rid of our weaknesses to avoid death,” Museveni emphasized.
He further implored the army to settle its scores, saying that the army will have to sort out its “own reversible problems using the available channels of conflict management”.
The Commander in Chief also urged soldiers to exploit the services offered by Wazalendo, and the available health and education centres in the barracks to better their quality of life.
He looked saddened and annoyed to know that such a cadre, Late Col Engola. died in the hands of one of his own, Private Sabiiti Wilson.
To the deceased’s family, the President urged them to keep the legacy of their father.
The Chief Mourner and Bishop of Lango Diocese Rt Reverend Alfred Olwa who represented the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda Rt Reverend Dr. Steven Kazimba Mugalu, reminded mourners to work harder and stop waiting for free things, adding that knowledge is power so if knowledge is power then lack of knowledge is dangerous.
He praised the deceased as a hard-working man in great northern Lango who brought fruit farming, among others.
A condolence contribution from the Church of Uganda worth shs17 million was presented before mourners.
Also at the funeral, the widow Joyce Engola asked mourners to glorify forgiveness while the son Sam Engola Junior eulogized his late father as a good father, a warrior and an enterprising daddy.
The late Col (Rtd) Charles Okello Macodwogo Engola was born on October 12, 1958, in Oyam, Oyam district.
He met his death after being shot by his bodyguard Pte Sabiti Wilson at his home in Kyanja, a Kampala suburb, on May 2, 2023
He was also the 501 Brigade Commander that trounced LRA rebels and thus brought fire back to residents in the Northern part of Uganda.