President Museveni: I am glad the Bazzukulu agreed with the idea to unite my 79 years of life celebration with our struggle. In this case, the battles of September 1972 and 1985 (Katonga).

I want to thank all those who fought in Katonga and the battles before. All the past wars in Uganda were unnecessary because there was always another way of solving the problems peacefully. Since 1962, we could have had peaceful politics, but some people didn't want to. They decided to go for violence and sectarianism. They never wanted the elections to decide. We would have used peaceful means to solve our problems.

However, today's challenge is to transform Uganda into a modern society. To achieve this, every Ugandan must join the money economy, and every young person should get the necessary education. There are two ways of creating a new society. One is by offering free education, and the second way is to stop working only for the stomach. We want everybody to work for the stomach but also for the pocket. This is how we shall get a modern society.

I thank the Bazzukulu for celebrating my birthday and remembering the fighters of Katonga and beyond.