President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has said the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party has fundamentally transformed Uganda from an import-dependent economy into one increasingly driven by domestic production, manufacturing, and wealth creation.
Addressing thousands of NRM supporters at the Makerere University Business School (MUBS) grounds in Nakawa Division, President Museveni said industrialisation, expanding manufacturing, and promoting wealth creation remain the cornerstone achievements of the NRM government and the basis upon which the party deserves another mandate.
The President, who was accompanied by the First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Maama Janet Kataaha Museveni, used the campaign rally to directly challenge critics who claim the NRM has done little to transform the country.
“Somebody told me yesterday that if you went to the supermarket today, you would find that 65 percent of the products are made here. In the past, 95 percent of the products in the supermarkets were imported,” President Museveni said, drawing cheers from the crowd.
He added that the shift towards domestic production is evidence of structural economic change, insisting that those who deny the NRM’s contribution are being dishonest.
“Those saying that the NRM has done nothing deserve hell,” President Museveni said, before elaborating on what he described as hypocrisy among critics.
“So, anybody who stands and says that NRM has done nothing will go to hell—Geyena in Luganda. Because Jesus doesn’t like hypocrites. Especially, Jesus had a lot of problems with the Pharisees, who were pretending to be religious but were hypocrites. He said you’re like graves—white outside but rotten inside,” the President remarked, drawing laughter and applause.
The NRM candidate placed particular emphasis on manufacturing and artisanship as critical engines of wealth and employment, citing the rapid expansion of industrial parks across the country as tangible proof of economic transformation.
He pointed to Sino-Uganda Mbale Industrial Park, which he said hosts about 75 factories employing approximately 12,000 workers, and Namanve Industrial Park, Uganda’s largest, which currently accommodates 273 factories employing more than 24,000 people.
“That area (Namanve) was a forest, and that’s where they used to throw dead bodies during the Idi Amin regime. But now it’s all full of factories,” President Museveni said.
He returned to his earlier criticism of the opposition, insisting that the existence of such factories invalidates claims that the NRM has failed to deliver.
“So, with those factories and all that wealth, and you say NRM has done nothing, I feel very sorry for you because I can see hell is waiting for you,” he added, in remarks delivered with humour that elicited laughter from supporters.
The President emphasized that wealth creation remains a central pillar of national stability, arguing that infrastructure such as roads and schools, while important, cannot sustain a country whose citizens remain poor.
“The NRM from the 1960s clarified that you can have roads and schools, but if you are not rich, you will retard and eventually collapse,” President Museveni said.
He explained that long before taking power in 1986, the NRM had developed a clear ideological framework centred on wealth creation and job generation.
According to President Museveni, wealth and employment are primarily generated in four key sectors, such as commercial agriculture, encompassing crops, livestock, and fisheries.
“If you engage in commercial agriculture, you will create wealth and jobs. The wealth is yours, but it also creates jobs for other people,” he explained.
The second sector, he said, is artisanship and manufacturing, which transforms raw materials into value-added products and absorbs large numbers of workers.
The third sector consists of services such as hotels, transport—including boda bodas—and other service-based enterprises that generate both income and employment.
The fourth sector, President Museveni said, is Information and Communications Technology (ICT), which allows Ugandans, particularly urban youth, to work remotely for companies abroad while earning incomes at home.
“You can be here in Nakawa and work for companies in America, and they pay you here, yet the company is somewhere else,” he said.
Practical examples of commercial agriculture:
To illustrate the potential of commercial agriculture, President Museveni offered a practical example based on a four-acre model.
The President cited the success of Johnson Basangwa, the proprietor of Jeka Poultry Farm in Kamuli District, as a powerful example of how wealth creation translates into job creation.
According to President Museveni, Basangwa produces about 2,500 trays of eggs daily, earning approximately Shs20 million per day, Shs600 million per month, and about Shs7.2 billion annually.
“Basangwa was a poor man in 2007. The only property he had was a plot in Kamuli town of 50 by 100 feet,” he said.
He recalled meeting Basangwa during local political contests, when several candidates were competing for the position of LC5 chairperson.
“I told them they were all wasting time because they couldn’t all be LC5 chairmen. Why don’t you look at what I told you in the 1996 manifesto?” President Museveni said.
Basangwa, he noted, took that advice and invested in poultry farming.
“Now he is a very rich man, but he has also created 300 jobs,” President Museveni said, adding that such enterprises demonstrate how peri-urban agriculture can be economically transformative.
President Museveni also cited his own Baralegi farm in the Lira–Lango sub-region as an example of integrated farming.
He said a single fish-pond measuring 20 metres by 100 metres earns him about Shs100 million annually, with approximately Shs70 million remaining after costs.
The President traced the evolution of government financing programmes aimed at stimulating grassroots wealth creation, citing Entandikwa, which provided interest-free loans at the sub-county level. This was later followed by programmes such as NAADS, Operation Wealth Creation (OWC), the Women’s Fund, the Youth Fund, funds targeting urban informal settlements, and support for boda boda riders.
However, President Museveni acknowledged that some of these programmes were undermined by corruption.
“I started to hear people saying beegabira bokka—officials giving money among themselves,” he said.
Despite this, he argued that national production continued to grow, citing increases in coffee output, livestock, maize, and other agricultural products.
President Museveni said persistent reports of corruption prompted the introduction of the Parish Development Model (PDM) , which channels funds directly to communities.
“We said if leaders are kwegabira bokka, let us send the money to the people directly,” he said, emphasizing that under the PDM, all adults above 18 years in a parish are expected to join parish-level Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisations (SACCOs), elect committees, and oversee the use of funds.
He urged voters to take responsibility for electing leaders who will safeguard public resources.
“The money for PDM and Emyooga has been coming, but it has been stolen on the way,” President Museveni said, adding that urban voters, including those in Nakawa and Kampala, also bear responsibility.
“You have the power to elect your representatives—the mayor, MPs, and others. If you elect opposition people who don’t follow your issues, then the money is stolen,” he said.
Health infrastructure concerns:
President Museveni also addressed concerns about health service delivery in Kampala, saying that facilities such as Kiruddu, Kawempe, and Naguru hospitals were originally intended to function as district hospitals to reduce pressure on Mulago.
“Rubaga and Kampala Central are remaining. And the idea was, the patients in these divisions should not go to Mulago but to the district hospitals. Now, how they changed to be something else, I don’t know. But it is in order to maintain the same principle – to have district hospitals in the five areas, so that no first-time patient should go to Mulago at all. So that Mulago remains a referral and super-specialized hospital,” President Museveni stated, calling upon the people of Nakawa to vote NRM representatives in Parliament to help follow up such issues.
“You have seen the mistake now,” he told the voters.
Earlier, NRM’s second National Vice Chairperson and Speaker of Parliament, Rt Hon. Anita Annet Among announced plans to establish district hospitals across Kampala’s five divisions, including Kiswa (Nakawa), Kisenyi (Kampala Central), Komamboga (Kawempe), Kisugu (Makindye), and Kawala (Rubaga).
On the contentious issue of compensation for former residents of the Nakawa–Naguru housing estate, President Museveni promised to engage the Speaker of Parliament to resolve the matter conclusively.
Addressing the rally, Maama Janet thanked residents of Nakawa for turning up in large numbers and urged them to translate that enthusiasm into votes during the general elections scheduled for January 15, 2026.
“Attending the rally is not enough. We must remember that our vote is important,” she said.
She urged young people to protect peace, which she said was hard-won by the NRM.
“Your vote is your personal brick that you put on the building of Uganda,” Maama Janet said, calling on voters to support President Museveni and all NRM flag bearers.
NRM First National Vice Chairperson Alhajji Moses Kigongo emphasised the need for unity and discipline as the party campaigns.
“We need to win and win highly without any complaint,” Alhajji Kigongo said, urging supporters to avoid insults during campaigns.
“We shall remain here after elections, so we have to be in harmony all the time,” he added.
Alhajji Kigongo said those who fought in the bush were grateful that the promise of peace had been fulfilled, arguing that this stability justifies continued support for the NRM.
