Museveni roots for value addition in agriculture

President Museveni looked the picture of health as he appeared on Zoom yesterday to rally Ugandans behind the push for value addition which will make Uganda’s exports more competitive on the world market.

This policy shift will help the country claw back billions lost to trading in unprocessed goods, he enthused.

Speaking after Finance minister Matia Kasaija had read the 2023/2024 national budget, the President displayed no ill effects from his week-long Coronavirus-induced isolation inside State Lodge Nakaserio as he exhorted officials to embrace the shift to better priced processed goods.

“The Import substitution value of these industrial products is about $3.6 billion and they are bringing into the country as export earnings $1.6 billion,” he said to the audience gathered at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds.

“In order to realise this industrialisation I have talked about, we don’t have to use government money. The government money has already been used on the basics [like] infrastructure, security and so on,” Mr Museveni said.

The President was in typical form, slamming corrupt government officials for standing in the way of foreign investors whose money would help drive Uganda’s economy forward much faster. 

“We have phosphates here in Tororo. The Chinese man who had come there [to set up a huge fertiliser plant]. Our people stole money from him. He was stupid, he was giving bribes to idiots and thieves. He should have helped me to get them and I would have hanged them,” he said.

Uganda, he said, is ready and open for business if only the large numbers of unemployed but educated youth would take advantage of enabling infrastructure such as roads in which the government has invested heavily.

“Thirty nine percent of our households are still spectators instead of being part of the players,” the President said.

Mr Museveni said desired levels of growth will be achieved through collective action, with lawmakers and other leaders getting behind wealth creation initiatives like Emyooga and the Parish Development Model. 

The President’s speech was generally well received, although Opposition MPs again stayed away just as they did a week ago during his State-of-the-Nation address. 

Kyaka Central MP Tom Bright Amooti agreed with the call for more involvement of MPs in economic empowerment programmes.

“He is right; this is the right time to go and implement.  As leaders we should come back to the ground and make sure [that] whatever we have said and seen goes into action. Once this is done, we will chase poverty out of the country,” Mr Amooti said.

Ntoroko County MP Gerald Ibanda Rwemulikya concurred, saying “these monies invested in Emyooga and PDM will help the 39 per cent get out of the poverty trap… the challenge is on how we should organise the 39 per cent. It is not about giving them money. Give them information and skills.”

State minister for Fisheries, Ms Hellen Adoa,  also spoke in support of doing more than just doling out cash to PDM and Emyooga beneficiaries -- recalling the false promise of other poverty eradication initiatives like Entandiikwa and Youth Livelihood Programme, which failed partly because of poor communication from government. 

“We are not feeling Emyooga because of the past experiences of entadiikwa and others. And also the particular people who handle were not able to handle the point [at the start] like the way PDM has been popularised,” she said.

On corruption, Tororo District Woman MP, Ms Sarah Opendi,  asked that the President cracks the whip on those officials implicated in the Osukuru phosphate and fertiliser plant debacle.

“He blames some crooks in this corruption [and yet] he knows who these crooks are. Mr President, stop this lip service in the fight against corruption and take action,” Ms Opendi said. 

Museveni Covid expert
At the tail-end of his six-page-long speech, President Museveni appreciated the ‘get well’ and ‘quick recovery’ messages he has received from many Ugandans, saying “it is good to know that I am not as bad as some people try to make me [look] like.”

Closing with a flourish, he promised that “the next [time]  I come on TV, I will talk about Corona because now I am an expert and I am also a veteran of Corona.”