PRESS CONFERENCE BY PRESIDENT OF UGANDA

PRESS CONFERENCE BY PRESIDENT OF UGANDA

The President of Uganda, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, briefed correspondents at Headquarters this afternoon on some of the latest developments in his country.  During the briefing, which took place ahead of his statement to the General Assembly on the issue of commodities and development, the President noted that most of the countries whose economies depended on exports of raw materials were in Africa and that this dependency has been a “curse” for the continent.

In response to a question on the assertion by a Ugandan church official that linked the use of condoms with an increase in the number of HIV/AIDS infections, President Museveni said that the incidence of the disease had actually gone down in Uganda, from 18 per cent in the mid-eighties to five per cent.  He credited his country’s success in curbing the epidemic to a change in people’s behaviour, which went beyond the use of condoms.

Turning to the conflict in northern Uganda, he said that a combination of military efforts and soft tactics would result in the elimination of all terrorism sponsored by the Sudan.  “We use the stick-and-carrot approach, and we have absolute control of the situation”, he said.

Stressing that Uganda had no military or financial involvement in the Democratic Republic of Congo, President Museveni said that his country had a very good relationship with the transitional Congolese government.

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