Charles Mwanguhya
Munyonyo
President Museveni surprised delegates attending the Smart Partnership Dialogue at Munyonyo yesterday when he confessed that he was convinced to use witchcraft during the 1981-86 bush war that brought him to power.
Mr Museveni said traditionalists convinced him to use witchcraft which he reluctantly accepted.
"When I was in the bush, I even dealt with our traditional religions," the President said. "They cut the throat of a chicken and told me to jump over it three times. They thought it was very important to appease the ancestors to bless our struggle. They said now even if you go with only one gun you will be able to capture Kampala."
Speaking during the second reverse dialogue session where journalists and presidents swapped roles with the latter fielding questions and journalists providing the answers, Mr Museveni criticised the media for serving a political agenda, being dishonest and failing to listen to the other side.
Mr Museveni said: "It is a fact that both foreign and local media tend to have a political programme and to push that programme, they give negative coverage to the person they don't like. I have never worked in the media because I have more important things to do. I look after cows, that's how I feed my family and contribute to the wealth of the country. When I am not doing that I pick a gun and chase away people who want to make disturbances."
He was reacting to challenges raised against the government's treatment of the media as the Fourth Estate and its internal communication mechanisms.
A similar session was held on Monday. In yesterday's session, Mr Museveni attacked what he called, "very low calibre of journalism with a lot of dishonesty."
He accused the foreign media of executing their agenda with an "element of racism."
Veteran journalist, now turned publisher, James Tumusiime told the presidents that the challenges facing the media are not different from those of the rest of the society just as the practitioners are selected from the same society.
Munyonyo
President Museveni surprised delegates attending the Smart Partnership Dialogue at Munyonyo yesterday when he confessed that he was convinced to use witchcraft during the 1981-86 bush war that brought him to power.
Mr Museveni said traditionalists convinced him to use witchcraft which he reluctantly accepted.
"When I was in the bush, I even dealt with our traditional religions," the President said. "They cut the throat of a chicken and told me to jump over it three times. They thought it was very important to appease the ancestors to bless our struggle. They said now even if you go with only one gun you will be able to capture Kampala."
Speaking during the second reverse dialogue session where journalists and presidents swapped roles with the latter fielding questions and journalists providing the answers, Mr Museveni criticised the media for serving a political agenda, being dishonest and failing to listen to the other side.
Mr Museveni said: "It is a fact that both foreign and local media tend to have a political programme and to push that programme, they give negative coverage to the person they don't like. I have never worked in the media because I have more important things to do. I look after cows, that's how I feed my family and contribute to the wealth of the country. When I am not doing that I pick a gun and chase away people who want to make disturbances."
He was reacting to challenges raised against the government's treatment of the media as the Fourth Estate and its internal communication mechanisms.
A similar session was held on Monday. In yesterday's session, Mr Museveni attacked what he called, "very low calibre of journalism with a lot of dishonesty."
He accused the foreign media of executing their agenda with an "element of racism."
Veteran journalist, now turned publisher, James Tumusiime told the presidents that the challenges facing the media are not different from those of the rest of the society just as the practitioners are selected from the same society.
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