STATEMENT BY H.E. YOWERI K.

MUSEVENI THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA ON THE DEATH OF HIS EXCELLENCY NELSON MANDELA FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE ANC AND FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA

6TH DECEMBER, 2013

It is with sadness that I heard of the news of Mzee Nelson Mandelas death. The sad and heroic story of Mzee Mandela starts in 1453 AD when the Ottoman T r!s ca"t red #onstantino"le $Istan% l as it is called today& from the 'yzantine (m"ire. That ca"t re %loc!ed the o)erland ro te from ( ro"e to Asia that had %een esta%lished %y Marco *olo many cent ries %efore. That ro te was im"ortant to ( ro"e es"ecially for s"ices and sil! trade. +ith that %loc!a,e- the ( ro"eans started loo!in, for an alternati)e sea ro te to the (ast- aro nd the massi)e African continent. *rince .enry- the Na)i,atorof *ort ,al esta%lished a na)al school at #adiz to im"ro)e on the constr ction of shi"s and on na)i,ation techni/ es so that they co ld ha)e shi"s that co ld withstand lon, Ocean )oya,es to Asia- aro nd Africa. This is not the time and "lace to ,o into the details of that ( ro"ean effort of circ m)entin, the Moslem %loc!ade.

1 ffice it to say that %y 1423- a mere 45 years after the fall of #onstantino"le- the *ort , ese- 4asco Da 5amahad ro nded the #a"e of 5ood .o"e $#a"e Town& and s"ent the #hristmas of that year at Natal- that is why that area was so named- remem%erin, the %irth of #hrist. +ith the disco)ery of the sea ro te to the 6ar (ast %y the ( ro"eans- that is where the sad % t also heroic story of Nelson Mandela and Africa %e,ins. Initially- the ( ro"eans came as traders- esta%lishin, ref ellin, and re"lenishment stations for their shi"s on the way to the 6ar (ast. +ithin a few cent ries- howe)er- the traders had %ecome the colonizers. The sad thin, is that while all this was nfoldin,- the African #hiefs and other 8esleaders ne)er made serio s efforts to co7ordinate in order to , arantee o r f t re as free "eo"le. ordination was either not there or too late. On acco nt of internal wea!nesses within Africatherefore- %y the %irth of Mzee Mandela in 1213- the whole of African continent- e9ce"t for (thio"ia- had %een colonized. )ario s tri%es fo ,ht the colonialists. .owe)er- the co7

Therefore- Mandela had the misfort ne of %ein, %orn nder colonialism li!e many of ac/ iesced and acce"ted s were. or 4ario s Many e)en indi)id als reacted differently to this sit ation. colonialism colla%orated with it.

.owe)er- a few others li!e

Mandela- Al%ert : th li- +alter 1is l - Oli)er Tam%oetc.- chose the diffic lt- hard ro te of resistance to colonialism. That resistance in)ited re"risals from the o""ressors. The African National #on,ress $AN#& "eo"le are more / alified to ,o into the details of that resistance %y the *arty and the indi)id als that were in)ol)ed. On acco nt of o r *an7Africanist orientation- we lin!ed " with the AN# in 12;< in Dar es71alaam. ()er since that time- the N=M- or its "rec rsors- ha)e %een wor!in, closely with the :i%eration Mo)ements of 1o thern Africa > ?AN@- ?A*@- 6=(:IMO- AN#- 1+A*OM*:A- etc- etc. The resistance of all the colonized "eo"les in the world had %enefitted from three factorsA i. The contin ed resistance of those colonised "eo"lesii. The fratricidal fi,htin, amon, the im"erialists $the 1st and 0nd +orld +ars&B and
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iii.

The solidarity from the socialist co ntries $1o)iet @nion- #hina- etc.- e)er since 121<&

That resistance had led to some of the cle)erer im"erialists ,i)in, %ac! the freedom of the "eo"le "eacef lly- e9am"les %ein, India and many of the African co ntries- incl din, @,anda. .owe)er- those who were not so cle)er- s ch as *ort ,al and the 'oers of 1o th Africa and =hodesia- tho ,ht they co ld maintain their colonial or minority and racist re,imes. It was the lot of freedom fi,hters li!e Mzee Mandela and his collea, es to sacrifice and fi,ht those re,imes. Mzee Mandela s"ent almost the whole of his ad lt life fi,htin, for freedom- startin, as a yo th in the 124Cs. ()ent ally- he went to Dail where he s"ent 0< years. O t of his 25 years on earth- ,i)en to him %y 5od- it is only in the last 00 years- since 1221- that he has li)ed as a free man. +hat a sacrificeEE ()en those 00 last years of his life- he was not o t of dan,er. Did I not recently hear of 1o th African racists that were "lottin, to !ill him for fi,htin, for freedomF Didnt #hris .ani die- shot dead- when 1o th Africa was "re"arin, for the first democratic electionsF #hris .ani
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had %een at =wa!it ra to )isit me where I tried to "re)ail on him not to ,o %ac! to 1o th Africa yet- % t in )ain. Mzee Mandela and his collea, es in the AN# ha)e f lfilled their mission of throwin, o t the o""ressors. It is the d ty of the "resent ,eneration to imm nize Africa a,ainst f t re colonisation. 1al tations to the sacrifices and achie)ements of Mzee Mandela and his collea, es.

8oweri G. M se)eni 5en $=td& CHAIRMAN OF THE NRM AND PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA