Ugandan president blames imperialists for Africa’s struggles

By Hamza Kyeyune

KAMPALA, Uganda (AA) - Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said Friday that centuries of taking slaves from Africa provoked those who were colonized to launch a resistance.

Museveni spoke in St. Petersburg Russia at the second Russia-Africa summit and thanked socialist countries, led by the Soviet Union, for supporting Africa's struggle for freedom.

“In order to understand the struggles, we have been involved in, we should be reminded that by 1900, the whole of Africa had been colonized except for Ethiopia. This colonization followed 500 years of taking slaves from Africa and the devastation, that criminal trade caused. However, these criminal acts by the imperialists provoked the colonized people into launching a resistance movement by some of the black people,” he said.

Museveni held talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on the sidelines of the summit and outlined areas of cooperation that include oil exploration, nuclear power energy, fertilizers, the Pathogenic economy, electric batteries and space science that would enable Uganda to have a dedicated satellite.

He proposed discouraging the importing of raw materials from Africa, but instead work with the African governments to add value to products at the source as it would transform the economies of the continent.

Putin said Uganda remains one of Russia’s key partners and is an ally on the continent with a diplomatic relationship that stretched more than 60 years.

He said trade between the two countries has increased five times in the last six months compared to last year and expressed gratitude that Uganda and Russia have close positions in the international arena, based on a commitment to shaping a just world. He congratulated Uganda for its endorsement to chair the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), taking control from Azerbaijan.

Putin also announced that Russia has written off the debt of African states worth $23 billion.