Museveni warns against oil money misuse, announces agro-industrial expansion in Hoima

Hoima City, Uganda: NRM Presidential Candidate Yoweri Museveni has cautioned residents of Hoima City against expecting oil revenues to address short-term demands, urging them to focus on long-term development projects that will sustain Uganda beyond the 20-year lifespan of the country’s petroleum reserves.

Addressing supporters as he presented the NRM Manifesto on behalf of party leaders on Thursday, Museveni warned that mismanaging oil funds, particularly by diverting them to recurrent expenditures like salaries, could push Uganda into the same economic pitfalls that befell countries which squandered their petroleum wealth.

“We have confirmed 6.5 billion barrels in Lake Albert and are still exploring, but this resource will last only about 20 years,” he said. “If we misuse it on short-term demands like salaries, we shall end up like some countries that had oil and became poor again.”

Museveni reminded residents that many of the world’s wealthiest nations prospered without petroleum resources, but instead relied on knowledge, industrialization and strategic investment. He said Uganda’s oil should be treated as a catalyst for durable national projects and not a substitute for productivity.

“Oil should help us speed up durable projects that remain long after the resource is gone,” he said.

Responding to local demands for expanded industrial capacity, Museveni endorsed Bunyoro’s appeal for an additional industrial park and explained that the Kabalega Industrial Park is dedicated to petroleum-related activities, necessitating a separate facility for agro-industrial production.

“Bunyoro is right to ask for an industrial park. Kabalega Industrial Park handles petroleum products, so we shall construct an additional one for food production because the two cannot be in the same place,” Museveni said.