President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has urged the Western powers to stop lecturing other nations on what practices to adopt and has cautioned them to erase all ideas of chauvinism, like the dogmatism of identity, religion, tribes, race, and social class.
Museveni said this while presiding over the officiating ceremony of the 27th Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC), calling upon the nations to respect the freedom of others and the dignity of everybody.
“What is good for the goose is good for the gander. What is good for you is good for everybody. If you value freedom, then you should value the freedom of everybody. If you value independence and dignity, then you must respect the dignity of everybody,” President Museveni said.
“Stop manipulations and lectures to societies that are different from yours. If you think you are right, influence people by example. With this approach, the world will be peaceful and progress rapidly,” he added.
Museveni also commended the concept of representative governance and separation of powers, noting that not all practices of imperialism are bad.
“In Uganda, we respect the concept of representative government, influenced by the British. Despite resisting imperialism, we embraced these positive concepts,” Museveni commended.
The president asked the visiting speakers to embrace some of the good things left behind by colonialism, noting that although imperialism was satanic, it gave birth to the Commonwealth, which has brought together a population of 2.4 billion people, and that this population can be used to develop nations within the Commonwealth.
The Opening Ceremony of CSPOC 2024 has officially commenced at Speke Resort Munyonyo, and out of 43 countries, at least 33 Commonwealth countries confirmed attendance.
The guests are from the nations of the Dominican Republic, Botswana, Ghana, Granada, Guyana, India, Kenya, the Kingdom of Eswatini, Lesotho, Malaysia, the Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda, Singapore, Samoa, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Tonga, Uganda, and Zambia.