President Museveni's Remarks at the SPLM NLC 4th Convention in Juba, South Sudan
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni’s Address to the 4th Convention of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) National Liberation Council (NLC)on May 3, 2018, at Freedom Hall in Juba, South Sudan
May 4, 2018 (PW) — I thank the SPLM for inviting me as a mediator but also as chairman of the NRM party.
My appeal to the leaders of SPLM is to drop violence as a means of conflict resolution. Force should be reserved for the enemy. A disagreement among brothers should not be resolved through force.
Force is like surgery. It should be the last resort to removing a tumour. If you use the knife to cut anyhow, you cease to be a surgeon, you become a butcher. Revolutionaries should know that violence is only for enemies. What enmity is there among the people of South Sudan?
Whatever the political differences South Sudan leaders should embrace dialogue and work towards having national elections. Some people have been coming to Uganda. They say they want to start a war because Salva Kiir is being controlled by some elders. But should that be cause for war?If there is mismanagement, work for peace then prepare for elections. You then resolve everything through the vote. Use the ballot to punish those who have misbehaved.
In Africa, parties like the SPLM which are forward-looking must be supported. Unlike the Western world, where society is horizontally stratified, in Africa we are dealing with pre-industrialist societies with vertical interests.
Some of these parties like SPLM say although society is vertically separated, the future belongs to nationalism and Pan-Africanism. They have futuristic ideas.
In Congo in 1960, we had Patrice Lumumba whose party was forward-looking. The Western countries came in and killed Lumumba that he was Communist. They got rid of him because he was not a puppet. They then put a puppet leader. Since then, the UN is in Congo.
A good party therefore must have a healthy political ideology, which creates a followership. Thereafter, you must resolve the question of interests against identity. What is more important? The SPLM should address this.
I am grateful that President Salva Kiir invited me to mediate in this conflict. When this crisis came up, some people were saying Uganda is undesirable. It should not come here. But these are our neighbours. When things go wrong, refugees don’t go to Brussels, they come to Uganda.
I am happy to see efforts moving well. SPLM siting together is critical for South Sudan stability. Unlike other countries in conflict, there is no vaccum in South Sudan. You have a strong party and should build a national army. We shall have even more representative meetings in the near future. I thank you.
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