President Yoweri Museveni has called upon Ugandans especially the political class to go back and revise the National Resistance Army doctrine of working for the sake of patriotism and not for pay.
According to Museveni, Uganda hasn’t yet gained its feet to satisfy all its workers pay plus allowances and it’s only prudent that these people go back to their doctrine.
“The mentality of allowances is a wrong one, for example, if we give money to bodyguards every time they are on a patrol, how about those that are currently fighting in Congo. We clearly can’t sustain that” Museveni highlighted.
Museveni further added that it’s this doctrine that enabled them to fight with nothing in their liberation war until they gained victory and to him it’s not correct for people to distort their doctrine with the issues of salaries and allowances.
The President made these remarks while eulogizing the late Minister (Rtd) Col. Charles Engola state funeral at Kololo independence grounds on Wednesday.
At this event, the President also hailed the late as a person who was a Patriot and a good soldier who had nothing to do with his death. The president also used this platform to express his feeling about the manner in which the Minister was killed.
“I’m not only sad but also annoyed and angry that a good cadre was killed by someone brought up by our own system, this was a big embarrassment to the Army” he asserted.
On May 2nd, Col. Charles Okello Engola the State Minister for Labour, Employment and Industrial relations was gunned down by private Wilson Sabiiti who was assigned to protect him at his residence in Kyanja a Kampala suburb.
At the scene that day, several eye witnesses claimed that before the bodyguard shot himself, he complained that the slain Minister owed him several months of unpaid salary allegations that Minister Betty Amongi later disregarded.
In her speech, Hon. Amongi Betty Ongom the Minister for Gender Labour and Social Development, told the mourners that Charles Engola will remain one of the pillars of Lango and described his death as a painful one.
She called upon those on investigations to do a thorough job to establish what prompted Private Sabiiti to kill the person he was meant to protect.
Mrs. Joyce Engola the wife to the deceased described the death of her husband as the darkest part of her life but thanked God for having prepared her to face it having fasted for 21 days prior to his death not knowing what was meant to happen to her. She expressed gratitude to President Museveni for all the support and according to her husband an official burial.
“It has given me strength, courage and hope,” Mrs.Engola said.
In his speech, Samuel Engola Junior, the eldest son of the deceased described their father as a great warrior, politician, farmer and a very enterprising person who implemented President Museveni’s wealth creation gospel in the region with passion.
Mr. Sam Engola, the brother to the deceased, noted that his brother had 28 bullets on him upon his death having fought all the wars that liberated this country. He said they don’t want any compensation from the family of Sabiiti and that they have forgiven the family for this evil act.
He further thanked President Museveni for all the assistance and love for Okello family and for according to him an official burial.
Engola’s body will on Thursday depart for Oyam District where a council sitting will be held in his honor and thereafter, it will be taken to the deceased’s home in Awangi Village, IcemeSub-county in Oyam District on Friday and laid to rest on Saturday.
The ceremony was attended by Ministers, Members of Parliament, Senior UPDF officers, the former Prime Minister Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda among others.
