By our Team
Kampala
DURING the national cerebrations of uganda’s 63rd cerebrations at Kololo independence grounds, he announced his forgiveness and peaceful return of Col Samson Mande.
He said after saluting all peace-loving Ugandans and the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) who have ensured security across the country, he said that reconciliation and forgiving was equally NRM’s policy.
Until the President’s announcement, Col Mande was living as a dessident
in Sweden since 2001 when he fell out with the regime in Kampala.
He escaped through Rwanda, formed a rebel rank, the People’s Redemption Army (PRA) which had bases in DR Congo and Uganda but later torn it apart.
He would later give up on rebelling but preferred remaining in exile.
To a calculative leader like Museveni, this would not add up wholly especially when he wants to inform the world at this point of elections that the country is at peace.
That’s why he has always tried to have dissidents who reconsider their stand back home for international recognition.
That was the fate with Gen David Sejusa after the Muhoozi project fall out and quiet many other corner dissidents and rebel collaborators of the Joseph Kony, West Bank Front, to mention but a few.
And save for a few former comrades with too much hard heart , president Museveni enjoys reuniting with his former fighters whenever chance arises.
Even those who gives him distance he can be seen acting when they envisage times of hardships or sorrow.
The national event where the President said that the development uganda is realizing is because of the prevailing peace was graced by the Deputy President of Kenya, ambassadors, government officials, religious leaders, and cultural leaders, among other dignitaries .
The President praised Col. Mande for choosing to return home, describing his decision as a testament to Uganda’s open and reconciliatory approach.
“I am happy to welcome back into peaceful Uganda, Col. Samson Mande, who had fled into exile on account of, apparently, some internal intrigue,” President Museveni said.
The President recalled Col. Mande’s contribution to Uganda’s liberation struggle, noting his service as a volunteer scout for the Task Force Division of the TPDF under Major General Silas Mayunga in 1979, and later as commander of the 15th Battalion during the Siege of Masaka in 1985.
“I remember Samson Mande in 1979 operating as a volunteer scout for the Task Force Division of the TPDF under Major-General Silas Mayunga in Mbarara. I was commanding the 9,000-strong Fronasa fighting force. Later, Mande did a good job as commander of the 15th Battalion in the Siege of Masaka in 1985 and in subsequent assignments. We welcome him,” he said.
The President also reflected on Uganda’s journey over the last six decades, saying that by the country’s 10th Independence Anniversary, Uganda was under “envious dictatorship,” and by the 20th anniversary, the once small economy based on three Cs and three Ts — coffee, cotton, copper, and tobacco, tea, and tourism — had completely collapsed. He said Ugandans were surviving on magendo (black-market trading) and forex rackets before the NRM came in to rescue the country.
“I am happy to inform Ugandans that by June 2026, the economy of Uganda will have grown to USD 66.9 billion in size using the forex exchange method, or USD 197.9 billion using the purchasing power parity method,” the President said.
“In this financial year, the economy will grow by seven percent, and after the flow of oil, it will grow by double digits.”
He added that with the rise of many factories and the production of goods within the country, Uganda is now unstoppable.
The President explained that Uganda has gone through five phases of transformation — from minimum recovery, to expansion, to diversification, to value addition, and now moving into technology — noting that institutions like Kiira Motors represent the next phase of industrial advancement.
He further emphasized that the country must now focus on two critical fronts: economic integration and political integration of the East African Community (EAC).
“What we need to work on now are two issues — economic integration of East Africa to ensure a big market, and political integration of East Africa resulting in a political federation of our region and the whole of Africa,” he said.
Col. Mande, in turn, expressed gratitude to the President and government for welcoming him back, pledging to work with the government in promoting peace and national unity.
