By Ssenkayi Marvin Ezra
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has reiterated the urgent need for deeper political and economic integration within the East African region, describing it as the most strategic path for Africa’s long-term prosperity and global competitiveness.
Addressing journalists from the Bukedi sub-region during a media engagement at the State Lodge in Mbale on Friday, November 14, 2025, President Museveni (also the NRM presidential candidate) outlined the seven priority areas of the NRM’s 2026–2031 Manifesto. He urged young Ugandans to focus their energy on productive pursuits and regional opportunities rather than what he termed “unproductive debates” and riots.
“Where will you sell what you produce? If Uganda’s internal market was big enough, why would the Chinese, with a market of 1.4 billion, be coming here?” the President asked. “You are not dealing with your future.”
Using agriculture as an example, President Museveni highlighted Uganda’s structural surpluses—especially in dairy, maize, and sugar—as evidence that the country cannot rely solely on its domestic market.
Uganda produces 5.3 billion litres of milk annually, against a national demand of just 800 million litres.
“We have a surplus of four billion litres. Sometimes Kenya buys, sometimes it doesn’t; and then we look to Algeria. It’s the same issue with sugar, maize, cement,” he noted.
These fluctuations, he said, underline the urgency of fully operationalising the East African Common Market and fast-tracking political federation.
The President outlined the manifesto’s seven priorities: Peace, Development, Wealth Creation, Job Creation, Expansion of Services, Expansion of Markets, and the Political Federation of East Africa.
He said these pillars are interlinked, with widening markets and eventual political federation forming the backbone of long-term economic transformation.
President Museveni used historic examples of German and Italian unification to illustrate the power of market-driven integration.
“Before 1870, Germans were in 39 kingdoms. They couldn’t build a strong economy. What moved them was the issue of the market,” he said. “A modern economy cannot grow without a market.”
He warned that Africans risk falling behind in a rapidly advancing world.
“People have gone to the moon. They look at us from there like insects that eat sugar. How can you, professors, allow such a gap to occur?” he asked.
In his characteristic style, the President used global technological advancements to demonstrate the urgency of African integration.
“People have gone to the moon. They look at us from there like insects that eat sugar,” he remarked humorously. “East Africa can have the capacity to go to the moon, send a satellite, and ask the Americans, ‘What are you doing here?’”
He encouraged journalists to use their platforms to promote constructive debate on regional unity, calling it “the destiny-determining issue for Africans.”
Responding to questions about NRM members running as independents after primary elections, President Museveni clarified that the Constitution does not ban independents because “primaries sometimes make mistakes.”
He encouraged unity around party principles, saying political competition should strengthen and not fragment the broader national agenda.
On household income and livelihoods, the President pointed out that the NRM government remains the only administration to directly fund citizens through initiatives such as the Parish Development Model (PDM).
“Go and check if any Ugandan government has ever given its people money as a wealth creation fund,” he challenged journalists.
Addressing concerns about public service salaries, he explained that the government prioritised foundational infrastructure, including roads, electricity, and industrial parks to create long-term jobs and economic resilience.
“Infrastructure creates opportunities for more jobs,” he said, adding that salary enhancements remain a consideration as revenue grows.
The President’s latest remarks add momentum to ongoing conversations about the East African Federation, a long-standing aspiration aimed at consolidating regional security, boosting trade, attracting investment, and creating a competitive economic bloc.
For Uganda, he said, a united East Africa is not just a political ideal but a practical necessity for inclusive growth, industrial expansion, and positioning the region for technological advancement in an increasingly competitive global landscape.