Kololo, Uganda: President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Monday rallied National Resistance Movement (NRM) delegates to spearhead the fight against corruption and drive socioeconomic transformation, citing Uganda’s remarkable economic leap from $3.9 billion in 1986 to $66 billion today.
Speaking to thousands of delegates at the inaugural National Conference for Special Interest Groups (SIGs) at Kololo Independence Grounds, Mr Museveni said Uganda is now entering the phase of the knowledge economy, with a target of becoming a high middle-income country worth $500 billion.
“The economy has gone through five key phases—minimum recovery, expansion of production, diversification, value addition, and now the knowledge economy. We already have local innovations like the Kira electric buses, vaccine production, and computer manufacturing,” the President told the delegates.
Mr Museveni stressed the need for every Ugandan household to abandon subsistence farming and join the money economy, emphasizing that while progress has been made since 2013, one-third of families remain outside income-generating activities.
“In 2013, 68% of homesteads were outside the money economy. Today, 67% are in, but 33% remain out. Every family must produce both food and cash,” he said.
The President reiterated the four wealth-creation pillars: commercial agriculture, manufacturing and artisan work, services such as tourism, and ICT innovations, singling out success stories like that of Joseph Ijara, a farmer of Serere, who earns UGX 3 million daily from just 2.5 acres, as proof that transformation is possible.
Tackling Corruption and Service Delivery
On the continued fight against graft, President Museveni urged the NRM delegates to take the lead in uprooting corruption, especially at the local government level, where recruitment and service delivery are often undermined by bribery.
“Don’t allow corrupt people to steal Parish Development Model funds or demand bribes. Stop those who steal public money—we shall arrest them,” he said.
Mr Museveni further tasked citizens to demand accountability from police officers in crime prevention and from district leaders in the proper maintenance of roads, with each district already allocated UGX 1.3 billion annually.
On education, the President reiterated his call for the enforcement of free Universal Primary and Secondary Education, condemning head teachers who extort parents with illegal fees. “Let us not let down the children of the poor. Stop these abuses of charging school fees. Support me to fully implement free education,” Museveni said.
The President hailed Uganda’s immunization programme as one of the key successes in the health sector, which has eradicated smallpox and reduced measles, while urging communities to fight theft of medicines in public hospitals and embraced to buy preventive healthcare practices.
On his part, the NRM Secretary General Richard Todwong called on members to put the party’s goals above personal ambitions, stressing that internal competition should not breed hostility. “We are members of one family. Focus on the bigger picture—the mission, objectives, and goals—rather than personal ambitions,” Todwong said.
The ruling party will this evening witness the election of Special Interest Groups (SIGs) representative which includes youth league representatives, women’s leagues, veteran, historicals, elderly, workers and entrepreneurs.
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