Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Saturday began a six-day walk in honor of the country’s fighters who won a five-year guerrilla war in 1986.
Museveni flagged off the 195-km historic trek code-named “Africa Kwetu”, loosely translated “Our Africa”, The Great Sacrifice from Galamba in the central district of Wakiso.
The president, dressed in full military combat, is leading the veterans, youths and well-wishers in the trek through the seven districts.
“The great trek started today and will last six days. This is a journey that the president is leading, a journey through the past to appreciate the present,” Museveni’s senior press secretary, Don Wanyama, told AFP Saturday.
“The journey will take a week through the jungle, a route the liberators led by Museveni took to liberate the country.”
The trekkers are expected to cover 28 km per day before breaking in the evening over a bonfire at the dotted eight campsites to remind Ugandans of the heroic exertions of the freedom fighters who volunteered out of patriotism, according to the organizers.
He is retracing the route he and his forces took in 1986 when they seized power from Idi Amin and Milton Obote.
Critics have dismissed the march as a stunt ahead of Uganda’s elections next year when Mr. Museveni is expected to seek a sixth term in office.
Asuman Basalirwa, an MP from the opposition Forum for Democratic Change, slammed the trek as a “campaigning tool”.
“Ugandans deserve better than a president walking through a jungle. Time spent should be used for other important issues affecting the country especially how he plans to hand over power,” he said
