When they knelt before longtime president Yoweri Museveni in Uganda and urged him to run for a seventh term, a group of medics caused a sensation.
Since 1986, the 78-year-old leader has been in charge. The following general election is scheduled for 2026.
On Saturday, December 3, 2022, doctors from the Uganda Medical Association (UMA) were being led by their leader to bow before the president. They had just finished attending a symposium on patriotism in Kampala, the nation’s capital.
According to the Nile Post news site, UMA head Dr. Samuel Odongo Oledo complimented the president in his speech for modernizing the nation’s healthcare system and enhancing the welfare of medical professionals.
He then asked President Museveni to run for president once again in 2026, according to the NTV television station.
Social media users were outraged by the gesture and accused the group of pandering to politicians.
Since making the comments, Dr. Oledo has also faced harsh criticism, with some UMA members even calling for his resignation.
Oledo made the remarks in his individual capacity and not on behalf of the UMA, according to the association’s secretary general, Herbert Luswata, and vice president Edith Nakku-Jolaba.
“The act of kneeling by Dr Oledo and the team doesn’t represent the Modus Operandi of the Association,” Nakku-Jolaba and Luswata said in a joint statement, adding that UMA “is nonpartisan and therefore, does not participate in political activities of partisan nature.” said Nakku-Jolaba.
