UG AT 61: Museveni Preaches Progress and Success for Uganda and Africa in Independence Day Speech

Every 9th, October 2023, Uganda celebrates her Independence. This year's celebrations have been held in Kitgum District under the theme: “Sustaining a United and Progressive Nation: Taking Charge of our Future as a Free Nation.” 

Today, on the 61st Anniversary of Uganda’s 
Independence, it is crucial to restate clearly, again, the essential ingredients of success for Uganda and, may be, the wider Africa. Here below are the crucial ingredients.

1. First and foremost, we reject the pseudo-ideology of emphasizing the politics of identity and we emphasize the politics of interests. While we recognize and respect the respective identities of our People (religion, tribes, gender), we insist 
that, in order to ensure the economic and social 
prosperity of our People, we must not forget their 
needs (food, jobs, market for their products, 
sources of raw materials for their industries, 
shelter, etc.).

Since 1965, the NRM has been insisting that although our People belong to different tribes, religions, etc., they, first of all, have similar needs (hunger, poverty, shelter, poor infrastructure, inadequate clothing, health, etc.) and, secondly, they need the supra-tribal Ugandan market and the Pan-African market, for their products to ensure their prosperity. Hence, the two principles of the NRM of patriotism and Pan-Africanism.

"Otherwise, we have told you, repeatedly, we shall build a Latin America in Africa instead of building a United States of Africa in Africa."

You all watch on TV channels, the misery of the Latin American populations, walking on foot fleeing man-made poverty in their respective Countries, their tremendous natural resources (the rivers, the forests, the minerals, the good climate for some of them, the ancient heritage of indigenous Indian Peoples, etc.) and culture notwithstanding, to the man-made affluence in the USA simply because the latter (the USA) emphasized integration while the former (Latin America) emphasized fragmentation."

The ideology of patriotism and Pan-Africanism, also promotes harmony among the People. That is why we no longer have a refugee problem while by 1986, Uganda was among the 4 top –Countries in the World, in Refugees’ generation. 500,000 Ugandans (mainly peasants) and a large group of exiles (mainly the elite) in the USA, UK, Sweden, Kenya, South Africa, etc. There were so many Ugandan doctors that had fled and working abroad.

All the Refugees came back and the Ugandans who are still outside, are there voluntarily. The ideology of emphasizing interests rather than opportunistically manipulating identity, has, therefore, created more opportunity for prosperity, created stability and created capable institutions of State. It is one of the necessary ingredients for success.

2. The second ingredient for success, is the 
philosophy and strategy of emancipating the 
private sector and encouraging it to be the basic 
creator of wealth in the economy.

3. The third most crucial ingredient is economic 
infrastructure, especially, electricity, the railway, 
the roads, the ICT backbone, Airports, Ports, 
piped water, irrigation canals, etc. These are 
crucial so as to create connectivity by linking the 
producers with the consumers (roads, the 
railway, Airports, the ICT backbone, the Ports, 
etc.), lowering costs of doing business and 
stabilizing agriculture. These will make our 
products plentiful and competitive.

4. The fourth ingredient, is social-infrastructure in 
the form of schools, health centres and research 
institutions, that will help us or are helping us to 
deal with the health, knowledge and skills of the 
human resource. A modern society and economy, 
need healthy People that are knowledgeable and 
skilled.

5. The fifth ingredient, is working on regional 
economic and political integration so as to 
guarantee a market for our products and alsoensuring our strategic security against any and all threats to our future.

6. Sixth ingredient, are some international contacts with those that are willing to trade with us on equitable basis and are reliable partners when it comes to the exchange of goods and services. Some of these international contacts, apart from trading with us, can also generate investors to come to our Country, they can be sources of tourists and can bring technology into our Country.

7. The seventh ingredient, is to eliminate 
corruption. Corruption takes the forms of 
stealing Government money meant for pro-People efforts (economic, infrastructure, service delivery, 
etc.), taking bribes from the public looking for 
services (jobs, medical care, licenses, etc.); and 
from investors. Ugandans and non-Ugandans 
that want to do business in Uganda, do not pay 
bribes. Report the scum to the StateHouse.

8. The eighth crucial ingredient, is protecting our 
environment which means the Wetlands, the forests, the rivers, the lakes and the water-towers 
in the form of our high Mountains of the 
Rwenzori, the Elgon, the Kigyezi Mountains, the 
Agoro hills and the hills of Ssiingo, Kookyi, 
Buhweju-Bunyaruguru, Rwampara-Ruhaama, 
etc. Why do we need to protect these 
environmental assets? It is because they provide 
us with three of the most primary life-savers. 
These are: air, water and food.