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I'm unknowingly sitting on gold, Museveni says of his cows

He claimed CAF President Patrice Motsepe bought a bull at Sh14.2 million.

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by EMMANUEL WANJALA

News20 July 2022 - 11:48
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In Summary


  • • In a series of tweets Wednesday, Museveni boasted about the breed's health benefits and resilience against dry weather.
  • •Museveni claimed the breed is highly demanded overseas on account of its health benefits which he discovered long ago but was not publicised.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni tends his ancestral herd of cattle at his rural home in Kisozi, Gomba DistrictT.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has praised his ancestral herd of cattle and equated their net worth to gold.

In a series of tweets Wednesday, Museveni boasted about the breed's health benefits and resilience against dry weather.

"On the weekend, I was in Kisozi to see the cattle z’obujajja (ancestral cattle – enshugyi)," he started off.

"These cattle are, really, so wonderful!! It was so dry, but they were still managing, as you can see in the pictures. The exotic ones would not survive." 

The president is famed for tending to his traditional long-horned Ankole cattle during his free time.

So passionate is he about cattle farming that in July 2019, he ordered the registration and issuance of birth certificates to cattle arguing that this would enable Uganda to penetrate the international market.

"People want to know what they are buying to eat, where it is coming from, it's quality and what they are spending their money on," he said.

Back to his ancestral cattle, Museveni claimed the breed is highly demanded overseas on account of its health benefits which he discovered long ago but was not publicised.

"They have the best and safest beef. Why? They are the only cattle with yellow fat, which is low in cholesterol," Museveni said.

"All the other cattle have white fat that has cholesterol. Their milk has also got better cream."

High cholesterol is associated with causing heart attacks and strokes.

Heart complications occur when cholesterol develops fatty deposits in blood vessels making it hard for enough blood to flow through arteries.

Sudden breakage of the fat deposits can form a clot leading to a heart attack or stroke.

It is for the above health benefit that Museveni said the breed of cattle he keeps is in high demand abroad.

To put this in context, Museveni claimed CAF President Patrice Motsepe recently bought an Ankole bull he sold to South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa years back at $120,000 (Sh14,238,000).

"Mr Motsepe of the Confederation of African Football Association, only the other day came to tell me about football affairs.

"However, he also told me that, recently, he bought an Ankole bull from H.E. Ramaphosa, who bought 43 cows from me some years ago, at the price of USD 120,000 for that bull," Museveni said.

"Talking of unknowingly sitting on gold!! There you are," he added.

Motsepe is a South African mining billionaire with a net worth of $2.5 billion (Sh237.2 billion) and is ranked 1,307th-wealthiest person in the world by Forbes.

He was elected the CAF President in March 2021. 


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