As Napoleon observed, “The army marches on its stomach”, everyone today matches on their stomach. Whoever feeds the stomach easily becomes one’s hero. But it should not be like that. We should define our heroes as those folks who do greater good for the greater majority.
And today we celebrate just that. The people who sacrificed their good lives for the better of our country. These are the true heroes. And all those people who wake up early to go to hospitals to attend and make our country coronavirus free and safe, those folks who clean our streets. The parents who do their best to nurture great children for a better Uganda for these are the leaders of tomorrow. The teachers who work tirelessly to make sure our young ones have resources to continue their studies online or offline, the street cleaners who do work at night putting their lives at risk, for the better of us all. Our soldiers who sleep half-awake because they must protect our country against our enemies’ actual or imagined. Our police officers who do all they can to enforce government directives to protect us all and our properties. And all the social workers who wake up early to their part even when their salary delays or they get underpaid.
To you, all great Ugandans and our partners doing your best with one hear to make our country better. Not stealing from the poor or abusing the positions we have entrusted you. To you all who fight for better services for the less privileged. You are the true heroes. And today, we celebrate you.
Today, 9th June 2020, we celebrate Heroes Day in Uganda. This day comes two days to the budget reading on 11th June 2020. The national budget is read by the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (MoFPED) annually and it shows the total expected government revenue and expenditure in the next financial year.
Since the government is Uganda’s biggest business partner, everyone looks forward to the budget.
- Government Institutions want to know how much money has been apportioned to their organizations and whether all their requests were fulfilled.
- Private sector players want to know which government institution has got how much money to scan for opportunities and plan their attack strategy. We know government institutions apply over 80% of their budget to procurement. Once the budget is approved, for the next financial year, the leaders focus on spending the budget allocation in procuring goods and services to deliver their mandate. For the private sector, all spending areas represent business opportunities
- And the same goes for lawyers, accountants, consultants, and experts. We are always looking for an increase in the governance and transparency budget.
Today we celebrate the fearless Ugandans who started protracted warfare for over five years in the bushes of Luwero, and across the country to restore democracy. And as they say, history is written by the winners, the NRM made history and forever changed Uganda.
These are our national heroes.
Who is your hero? Who is that person that has supported you through tough times and good times without feeling tired? Who is that person who calls you to just find out how you are doing? Who is that person who encourages you to continue moving forward even during these covid19 times when times are tough? Who is that person who does good for you without expecting any thank you?
Who is your hero and why?
Happy Heroes Day.
Copyright Mustapha B Mugisa, 2020. All rights reserved.
