Museveni: Uganda will easily Surpass Low Middle-Income Status
At the 37th NRM Victory Anniversary celebrations held in Kakumiro District on Thursday, President Museveni made the remarks.
Museveni: Uganda will easily Surpass Low Middle-Income Status
According to President Yoweri Museveni, the NRM government has successfully maintained power for the past 37 years as a result of the party’s four guiding principles, which allowed Uganda to create powerful institutions like the Patriotic Political Parties, the Army, and the Judiciary, among others, that have ensured ongoing peace.
At the 37th NRM Victory Anniversary celebrations held in Kakumiro District on Thursday, President Museveni made the remarks.
“On this occasion of the 37th anniversary of the NRM triumph in 1986, congratulations to all of you. The NRM’s four guiding principles, which we had extracted from the disorganized politics and poor leadership that had plagued Uganda for over 556 years, ever since the era of the last Muchwezi King, Wamala – Ruhaanja, Njoojo ebuunga,” he said.
He stated that the fledgling State of Uganda, which gained independence in 1962, as well as its democratic institutions, could not survive due to the failed politics of identity chauvinism (ethnicity and religion).
The student revolutionaries were forced to take up arms and lead the masses in the effort to destroy the Colonial Army, the Uganda Army, as well as putting forward the four principles of the NRM that we had distilled out of watching the chaos between 1960 and 1986. This was due to the crises between Mutesa and Obote in 1966 and between Obote and Amin in 1971.
The four guiding ideas are democracy, socioeconomic change, pan-Africanism, and patriotism.
“We are now celebrating because of this. The politics of identity (tribes, religion, gender, etc.) were replaced by the politics of the legitimate needs (interests) of the People (peace, consumer goods, health, development, education, wealth creation, markets for our products, among others) by patriotism (loving Uganda) and pan-Africanism (loving Africa), the president continued.
According to Gen. Museveni’s disclosures, these factors have helped Uganda’s economy develop from a pitiful US$1.5 billion in 1986 to a projected US$48 billion by the end of June 2023, with a GDP per capita of US$1,067.
“You remember that a GDP per capita of USD 1,039 is required to be classified as middle-income. Now in our second fiscal year, we fall under that group.
To be acknowledged as a middle-income country, you must be recognized for three years in a row. However, I believe that Uganda will easily surpass all of those meager goals. Why? You recall my warnings about the value being lost when raw commodities are exported,” he said.
President Museveni went on to say that the low- to middle-income economy that is being discussed is still primarily one that produces raw materials. For example, Uganda receives USD 2 for a kilogram of coffee in the form of beans, while more savvy foreigners receive USD 4 for roasting, grinding, and packing the coffee for sale in supermarkets.
“I have, at last, roused some Ugandans from their ignorance-induced slumber. More and more of our coffee as well as the other basic commodities – cotton, maize, forest products, minerals, etc. – will have value added, he stated.
The Head of State highlighted that this broad-spectrum value addition initiative will quickly propel the nation’s economy to a half-trillion dollar economy (USD 500 billion).
The President stated, “We now have electricity, and we are adding more, we have a variety of large-scale raw materials, and we are increasingly seeing local and foreign entrepreneurs. We also have the African market that we have established with our Pan-Africanist Comrades. Therefore, on this occasion, I want to emphasize five points.
These are: be clear about development (entunguuka, enkulankulaine, dongolobo, apolu, etc.) and wealth (obugaiga, obuguuda, lonyo, etc.); be clear that Socio-economic transformation involves the whole society to move on two axises – money-based wealth creation with ekibaro and mass-education; stamping out corruption from all Government agencies in the Central and the Local Governments; stamping out sectarianism; and protecting our environment.”
