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President Museveni opens Commonwealth Speakers meet

President Museveni (L) shares a light moment with Speakers and Presiding Officers after taking of the official CSPOC photo

President Yoweri Museveni has advised Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth to take advantage of population and common language to exploit the advancement of all partner states.

The President was opening the 27th Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC) at the Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort in Kampala on Thursday, 04 January 2024.

He added that it was the philosophical, ideological and strategic shallowness for the Commonwealth member states to exist at cross-purposes yet they have abundant advantages that could enhance mutual cooperation.

**Some of the Speakers and accompanying persons at the opening of CSPOC 2024**

Calling colonialism a waste of time, the President said a lot can still be salvaged instead of the chauvinism of many actors.

“The greed is a miscalculation; this is why empires collapse; all of them, without exception, because they are essentially evil,” he told the over 30 Speakers and Presiding Officers attending the three-day conference.

“A whole century was wasted on account of promoting parasitism instead of symbiosis; stop manipulation and lectures to societies that are different from you; if you think you are right, influence people by your example,” he added.

Museveni said the Commonwealth is among the positive practices veterans of the resistance against colonialism salvaged, which he said should be employed to widen prosperity among member states.

“When the dangerous illusions of empires were defeated, the elders of the countries decided not to throw away everything,” he said, adding that the English language is an example of the good things maintained, which could be helpful in easing trade among nations.

**The Chairperson of the Coordination Committee that organised the conference, Hon. Abdu Katuntu (front right) with the Deputy Clerk, Henry Waiswa and Hon Adolf Mwesige, Clerk to Parliament on his right**

Established in 1969, the CSPOC operates on a bi-annual basis, where Speakers and Presiding Officers of the national parliaments of the independent sovereign states of the Commonwealth converge to understand the various forms of parliamentary diplomacy.

The main theme of the CSPOC is to foster and encourage fairness on the part of speakers and presiding officers of the Commonwealth.

The Rt Hon. Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda, Anita Among, in her remarks, welcomed the delegates, and said Commonwealth relations should be anchored on mutual respect.