By Zainab Ali
President Yoweri Museveni has hailed Special Forces Command and fallen Martin Mwesigwa for living to their word by constructing houses for the forces which he launched on Friday.
President Museveni commissioned 25 housing units for officers of the Special Forces Command (SFC) at the Kambarage Nyerere Barracks at Busambaga-Katabi in Entebbe Municipality.
The President revealed that the construction of the housing units began in May 2017 and was spearheaded by the engineering unit of SFC.
He said the units are named after the late Mwesiga, a soldier who he said fought tirelessly to end the dictatorship of Idi Amin.
President Museveni hailed: “I commend SFC for having used their own manpower to construct the houses, which saved a lot of money that would have otherwise been spent on a private contractor.”
He said: “Some private contractors are very poor. They go to banks and borrow money at 24% interest rate and on account of greed, put in a profit calculation of 19%, which makes it 43%, that we would have to pay.”
President tipped: “I urge soldiers to refrain from greed and corruption so that more houses can be built for soldiers’ families. It is such corruption that failed Army schools because some people would bring entire clans & not biological children of soldiers, eventually overwhelming the programme.”
He again hailed: “I thank SFC for remembering the late Martin Mwesigwa. Find a systematic and organized way of keeping records of the children of the veterans so that the Army can be able to help them.”
President Museveni narrated: “When Mwesiga died in 1973, Uganda was in a bad situation and if we had not sacrificed, our country would have collapsed. Comrades like Mwesiga were young and very educated people who sacrificed for the nation. His grandson can now live in peace because of his sacrifice.”
