Close to 200 Post Medical Interns drawn across the country, have completed a two-weeks ideological course at the National Leadership Institute, Kyankwanzi.
President Yoweri Museveni, in a speech read for him by Vice President Jessica Alupo said ideological
training is important because it helps medical Interns make a correct diagnosis of the challenges facing society and prescribe the appropriate cure for them.
“As medical practitioners, you are aware that if you prescribe treatment before carrying out diagnosis of a patient, you will be labelled a quack Doctor.
It is, therefore, important for medical professionals to understand the challenges or bottlenecks that precipitate social backwardness and engage in efforts to address those challenges,” President Museveni said during the closure of the retreat.
The ideological leadership development course followed requests by the post medical Interns to President Museveni to help them have a better understanding and appreciate the country’s social economic and political realities.
Museveni said the National Resistance Movement was able to identify ten bottlenecks to Uganda’s development.
These include:
Ideological disorientation;
weak State, especially the Army; Under-developed infrastructure, underdevelopment of the human resource,
Interfering with the private sector, a fragmented African market on account of colonialism;
exporting unprocessed raw materials and, therefore,
getting little money and losing jobs- caused by lack of industrialization, the attack on democracy among others.
Museveni explained that after many years of a peaceful and armed struggle and analysis, the NRM evolved four principles to address the above challenges which include:-Patriotism, non-sectarianism, Pan-Africanism (working for the Federation of East Africa and beyond) as well as the Common Market of Africa in order to guarantee greater prosperity and strategic security. He stressed the market of Uganda is not enough to guarantee our prosperity and strategic security. Thirdly, the President said; Socio-economic transformation so as to change Uganda from being a peasant society into middle, skilled working class society and lastly, ensuring the development of democracy.
He explained that understanding these bottlenecks and the principled solutions that the NRM government has adopted to address them will enable medical Interns make a meaningful contribution to the socio-economic transformation of our country.
Earlier, the Vice President thanked the trainees for grasping and demonstrating the acquired skills perfectly. She told the Interns that cabinet would address the issue of interns’ allowances, noting further, that the President has instructed the Health Ministry to prepare a comprehensive cabinet paper to that effect.
Alupo thanked the medical Interns for pledging to serve the general public diligently and urged them to respect their elders in the profession as they enter the world of work. She also urged them to support and respect the fountain of Honor President Museveni-today, in 2026 and beyond.
NALI Director Brig. Charles Kisembo said the course participants applied themselves very well on the course.
“They demonstrated high sense of committed resilience. As an institute, we are satisfied that that the course participants are leaving this place changed and better,” kisembo said.
Kisembo asked Government to improve the state of Bukwiri-NALI road.
Dr. Musa Lumumba, the President of the Medical Interns said that NALI has enlightened and shaped them to become goal oriented health professionals, problem solvers and not lamenters.
The interns committed to prevent sickness and promote health in their respective communities by ensuring that citizens have access to doctors, graduate clinical officers and graduate Nurses and midwives so as to address doctor to patient ratio.
The medical Interns who treated the Vice President to Parade and skills at arms demonstrations also pledged to put an end to theft of drugs and other essential supplies in public hospitals.