The late Gen (Rtd) Moses Ali played a pivotal role in securing more than Shs500 billion for teachers' salary enhancement in 2017, a landmark intervention that helped avert a nationwide teachers' strike, according to Commissioner for Compensation in the Ministry of Public Service, Victor Leku Bua.
In a tribute issued on Sunday following the veteran statesman's death, Bua said Cabinet entrusted Gen. Moses Ali with chairing a sub-committee mandated to identify additional resources for teachers' salary enhancement.
He said the committee successfully mobilised more than Shs500 billion, enabling government to implement the salary enhancement programme and ease tensions that had threatened industrial action.
"Whenever Gen Moses Ali was given a national assignment, he executed it with dedication, distinction and unwavering patriotism. He always placed the interests of Uganda above personal considerations," Bua said.
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Bua, who also serves as Trustee of the Public Service Pension Fund and chairman of the Ma'di Cultural and Development Foundation (MACDEF), described the late general as a towering statesman, mentor and patriot whose contribution to Uganda's development would endure for generations.
He said Gen. Moses Ali approached every national assignment with integrity, discipline and selfless service, earning the confidence of successive governments.
Reflecting on their personal relationship, Bua said he was privileged to spend time with the late leader alongside Prof Robert Esuruku, where they benefited from his wealth of experience and leadership lessons.
"Gen. Moses Ali regularly invited Prof. Robert Esuruku and me to his home for tea. Those meetings were more than social visits; they were mentorship sessions where he generously shared his wealth of experience, wisdom and love for our country," he said.
Speaking on behalf of the MACDEF board, its members and the wider Ma'di community, Bua described Gen. Moses Ali's death as a profound loss to the Ma'di people, West Nile and Uganda.
He said the veteran politician was a revered patriarch whose decades of public service earned him respect across political, cultural and religious divides.
"The Ma'di community has lost one of its greatest sons, and Uganda has lost an exceptional statesman. Leaders of Gen. Moses Ali's calibre are rare. His life was defined by sacrifice, courage and unwavering commitment to national unity," he said.
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Bua also noted that Gen. Moses Ali was among the few Ugandan leaders to have served three presidents in senior government positions, a reflection of the trust successive administrations placed in his leadership.
He extended condolences to the bereaved family and prayed that Allah grants them strength during the mourning period.
Addressing the people of Adjumani West Constituency, Bua thanked them for their steadfast support of Gen Moses Ali throughout his long political career.
"To the people of Adjumani West, thank you for your unwavering support and loyalty. You stood with your leader until the very end, and that is a testament to the bond he shared with his people," he said.
He urged the Ma'di community to preserve the late leader's legacy by promoting unity, patriotism and selfless service.
"We bid farewell to a patriot, a mentor and a father. May the Almighty Allah grant his noble soul eternal rest in Jannah. His legacy will continue to inspire generations of Ugandans," Bua said.
Gen Moses Ali, one of Uganda's longest-serving political and military leaders, is being accorded a state funeral in recognition of his decades of public service.
Burial preparations are underway at his ancestral home in Abiricaku Village, Adjumani Town Council, where mourners have continued to gather to pay their final respects.
