Under pressure to provide accountability and service delivery to the public President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has called on National Resistance Movement (NRM) leaders and opposition politicians to take greater responsibility in monitoring government programmes and ensuring that there is effective service delivery during “No More Sleep”warning that leaders who fail to oversee public initiatives should be held accountable.
The President made the remarks during the reading of Uganda’s Shs84.4 trillion national budget for the Financial Year 2026/27 in Kampala whose theme focuses on accelerating economic growth, improving service delivery and supporting productive sectors as Uganda pursues its ambition of becoming a middle-income, high-growth economy.
President Museveni said Uganda has made significant progress economically but stressed that weaknesses in implementation and supervision continue to undermine government programmes.
“We are to demand performance from both the NRM and also the opposition. As long as you are getting money from the government, you must check what is happening on the ground,” he said.
The President argued that elected leaders, regardless of political affiliation, have a duty to monitor government projects in their constituencies and ensure public resources reach intended beneficiaries.
President Museveni warned that government officials, local leaders and legislators who neglect their monitoring responsibilities would increasingly come under scrutiny.
“I will ask the Attorney General to see how I can deal with leaders who are paid to monitor but do not do their work,” he said.
The President stressed the need to move the remaining 33 percent of Ugandans who are still outside the money economy into productive economic activity, describing this as the country’s most important development challenge despite impressive economic gains recorded over the years.
“For now, let all political leaders take the lead in getting 33 percent of our people who are outside the money economy to join the money economy,” he said.
President Museveni hence directed Ministers, Members of Parliament and local government leaders to actively monitor PDM implementation parish by parish to ensure funds are not stolen and beneficiaries are supported to generate income.
“The eyes of the dead body are the eyes of the one carrying it,” he said, using a traditional proverb of the Banyankore to emphasise leadership responsibility.
Presenting the budget, Finance Minister Henry Musasizi said the government remains committed to transforming household incomes and expanding economic participation.
He revealed that over the last five years, the government has transferred Shs4.4 trillion as revolving capital to all 10,589 parishes under the Parish Development Model.
“To date, the government has invested close to Shs11 trillion directly into wealth-creation initiatives targeting households in the subsistence economy, farmers, youth, women and businesses,” Hon. Musasizi said.
He described PDM as the government’s most important intervention for eliminating subsistence production and expanding participation in the money economy.
“In FY2026/27, domestic revenue is projected to increase to Shs45.6 trillion from Shs35.7 trillion in FY2025/26, equivalent to 15.9 percent of GDP,” Hon. Musasizi said.
The additional resources, he noted, will support wealth creation programmes, agricultural transformation initiatives and infrastructure development.
The government projects Uganda’s economy to grow by 10.2 percent next financial year, up from the current growth rate of 6.4 percent, largely driven by petroleum production and continued investment in productive sectors.
President Museveni described the current performance as impressive by global standards but maintained that the country has the potential to achieve even stronger growth.
“Uganda is a very rich country. We have enormous potential and we have only begun to tap it,” he said.
President Museveni expressed optimism about the economic transformation expected from Uganda’s emerging petroleum sector adding that the government expects to earn approximately $1.5 billion annually from its share of oil revenues once production commences.
He said part of the revenue generated from oil will be invested in a sovereign wealth fund while another portion will finance strategic infrastructure projects.
“We need to create a sovereign fund so that the money can earn more money, as countries like Norway have done,” President Museveni said.
