Kampala, Uganda: The aspiring National Chairperson of the NRM Entrepreneurs League, renowned businessman King Ceasor Augustus Mulenga, has pledged to inject Shs 600 million into established regional NRM SACCOs as part of his campaign to empower local SMEs and spur grassroots innovation across Uganda.
In an exclusive interview at his Nakasero office on Wednesday morning, King Ceasor vowed to seed-development SACCOs in all six NRM regions (western, northern, eastern, central, Kampala, and Karamoja) with Shs 100 million each.
His ambition is to turn each regional SACCO into a one‑billion‑shilling capital base within 12 months, offer affordable credit at just 1% interest per month (12% per annum), and catalyze entrepreneurship, especially among youth and women.
“If I give you Shs 100 million today and it is well managed, in one year it could turn into Shs 1 billion,” King Ceasor, the proprietor of King Ceasor University, explained.
The businessman further emphasised the need for stronger grassroots enterprise, noting that many Ugandans who produce raw agricultural produce receive minimal returns because value addition is handled by foreign investors. “Ugandans must complete the job; add value here, generate jobs and retain profits locally.”
King Ceasor, who is widely tipped to win the eight-man race for the league, outlined mechanisms to institutionalise entrepreneurship within the NRM, among which is advocating for formal recognition of the Entrepreneurs League within party structures, from LC1 to Parliament, similar to how the youth, women, elders, disabled, and veterans leagues operate.
Under his leadership, Mulenga proposes engagement with legal experts to draft constitutional reforms to enable proper representation of entrepreneurs in party organs and government.
He also intends to launch a quarterly magazine aimed at educating entrepreneurs about relevant legislation, such as investment incentives, parliamentary laws, taxation, and investment licensing by UIA, and to expose members to global best practices.
For coffee sector operators, King Ceasor, who is Vietnam’s Honorary Consul to Uganda, plans to lead delegations of Ugandan entrepreneurs to the Asian country, which now leads globally in Arabica coffee production and value-addition, to promote knowledge exchange and aggregation of capital.
He also highlighted barriers entrepreneurs face when accessing finance, high interest rates, undervalued collateral, long processing times, and proposed “standard offer” agreements with partner institutions to ensure loans are processed within three months, loans are based on up to 60% mortgage valuations, and repayment terms extend to five years.
King Ceasor appealed to the five delegates in each district to vote for him during the ongoing leadership ballot, stressing that SACCO mobilisation, legal reform, and enterprise advocacy are timely interventions that align with NRM’s national vision.
As Uganda’s ruling party gears up for the 2026 general elections, internal preparations are underway. The NRM Electoral Commission has commenced grassroots structure elections, including district‑level Entrepreneurs League leadership, as part of its electoral roadmap released in April 2025.
NRM has set delegates’ conference dates for August 22–25, 2025, during which over 25,000 delegates will gather, primarily at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds, to elect new Central Executive Committee (CEC) members, including the National Chairperson, two Vice Chairpersons (one female), and six regional vice chairpersons.
During the delegates, President Museveni will be officially endorsed as the NRM presidential flag bearer for the much-anticipated January 2026 general elections.
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