Full Speech: President Museveni’s 2022 state of the nation address

President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has on June 07 delivered his 2022 State of the Nation Address. Here is what the head-of-state and government told Ugandans: #UgandaNews #M7Address #News #WhispeEyeNews

Your Excellency the Vice President,

Right Honourable Speaker,

His Lordship the Chief Justice

Rt. Hon. Deputy Speaker,

Rt. Hon. Prime Minister,

Rt. Hon. Secretary-General of the NRM,

Hon. Members of Parliament,

Members of the Diplomatic Corp,

Ladies and Gentlemen.

In fulfillment of the Constitutional requirement under Article 101 (1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, I am here to deliver the State of the Nation Address, 2022.

Greetings, to all the Ugandans. On an occasion like this, I am reminded of the parable in the Book of Matthew, Chapter 7, and Verses 24-27. This is the parable of two men – a foolish one and a wise one. The foolish man built his house on sandy ground and when a storm came, the house collapsed.

The wise man built his house on hard ground and even when the storm came, the house withstood the force. The exact quotation goes as follows:

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

Similarly, when the NRM was fighting and when we took power in 1986, we put out the 10 points programme that was later summarized into the four principles of the NRM. Point No. 5 of the NRM 10 points programme, set out to build “an independent, self-sustaining national economy”, by creating backward and forward linkages in our economy. Later on, we summarized the 10 points into the four NRM principles of: patriotism, Pan-Africanism, social-economic transformation and democracy. Some myopic people, thought that this was sandy ground where the NRM had constructed the house of Uganda. However, the onslaughts to which Uganda has been subjected in the last 2 or 3 years, have proven that the Uganda house the NRM has constructed in the last 60 years, including the preparatory years before 1986, has been built on hard ground, indeed.

Remember, the locusts, the rising waters of the Lakes, the floating islands, the landslides, the terrorist bombs, the covid-19 and now the rising commodity prices artificially caused by the Ukrainian war. In spite of all these, the Ugandan economy, by the budget time in the next few days, will be standing at US$ 45.7billion by the exchange rate method and at USD 131.6 billion by the method.

This means that the GDP per capita is now $1046. You remember, the entrance points for the lower middle-income status, is USD 1036. We have now passed that figure. Congratulations. However, to be declared a middle-income country, you need to sustain this for two to three consecutive years. I am confident, we shall over perform, in achieving that.

Remember that our economy expanded in spite of the lockdowns caused by covid-19 and in spite of the ever increasing population; you can see that the size of the economy, when compared to the population that is always growing fast, has continued to grow and we have arrived at the boundary point as far as the middle income status is concerned. Before the global destabilization by the corona-19 and the Ukrainian crises, Uganda was a country of surpluses that were crying out for markets in the form of sugar, maize, milk, chicken, eggs, bananas, cement, mitayimbwa (steel bars), soap, beers etc., etc.

This global crisis actually presents Uganda with plenty of opportunities. I saw on the news, that Malaysia had banned the export of chicken and that India had banned the export of sugar. President Biden was crying for baby formula, etc. Many of these products are the ones that have been in surplus in Uganda. We just need to deal with a few quality and bio-hazard issues. The issue of aflatoxins, will be dealt with by proper harvest and drying methods as well as the method of embracing biotechnology.

The door to our Dairy exports will be opened when we, the cattle owners, vaccinate our cattle twice a year. If the government does not have the money to pay for the vaccines, we the farmers can do it. With 1000 cattle, I would need Ushs15M (fifteen million shillings only) for FMD. Given the lucrative export markets that will become available, like the one of Algeria of USD 1.124 billion, this cost on the farmers, will make sense. The other crucial vaccine, will be the one of CBPP. With 1000 cattle, we need Ush 850,000 (eight hundred fifty thousand shillings only) in a year.

All this capacity that has enabled the house of the wiseman to withstand the force of the storm, is long before the implementation of our Parish Development Model, whose end result is to tap the production capacity of all the 7 million houses in Agriculture, relying on the 7 high-value commodities of: coffee, fruits, dairy products, poultry, pigs, fish-farming and food growing for those of 4 acres and less. The ones with land that is more than 4 acres, can, in addition, grow sugar-cane, cotton, maize, tobacco, tea, cassava, bananas, ranching, etc., because the country needs these products for industry, food or as inputs into the intensive agriculture mentioned earlier – the agriculture of the seven high value activities. The agriculture of the commodities in the latter category, we describe as extensive Agriculture – where you get less money per acre per annum, but because of doing what you are engaged in on a large scale, you get good money. The activities of intensive agriculture, such as poultry, piggery, fish-farming, dairy farming of the zero-grazing type, need animal feeds, fish-meals, etc., that are from maize and other products of the extensive agriculture type.

Moreover, the wise man’s house is currently full of surpluses, without too much use of irrigation or the use of fertilizers. In the coming financial years, we are going to intensify the modest efforts we have already started on, in connection with irrigation. With irrigation, we have worked with the private sector to produce solar-powered water pumps that the rich farmers can buy and engage in mini-irrigation, farm by farm. Once the solar powered irrigation pumps are on the market, the Government will buy them for some of the co-operatives or farming villages, where one pump can be shared by a number of small farmers.

We shall continue also developing the mega-irrigation schemes of the Mobuku type. Currently, 150 solar-powered water pumps have been imported. By the end of next year, 687 solar-powered water pumps will have been imported. Meanwhile, our private sector is building a factory for producing solar-powered water pumps and panels. The factory will be ready by the end of the year and it will produce 160,000 pumps per year. At the same time, we are continuing to repair and expand the old irrigation schemes and also build new ones. As of now, the following irrigation schemes are ready: Wadelai (Pakwach); Mubuku (Kasese); Ngenge (Kween); Doho (Butaleja); Rwengaaju (Kabarole); Agoro (Kitgum); Olweny (Lira); and Tochi (Oyam).

Acomoi in Bukedea and Ataari in the district of Bulambuli and Lopei in the district of Moroto are being worked on. We intend to use the waters of the Kagyera River to support irrigation in Isingiro, the water of Lake Kyoga to support irrigation in Nakasongola district, the water of the Nile to support irrigation in Pakwach, Nebbi, Madi-Okolo and Obongi districts.

The areas of Busoga, Teso, Bukedi and Lango, have got a lot of wetlands, that are now being misused for rice growing or under-used, that will be used as reservoirs for irrigation projects. Irrigation, mega and micro, is in order to enhance and also stabilize agricultural production by immunizing from the negative effects of erratic rainfall. On the side of fertilizers, the Usukuru hills project, has stagnated. We are, however, looking for a solution to that problem. There are a number of offers. Tororo will give us phosphorous, the associated gas that is found with our petroleum in Lake Albert, will give us the nitrogen and Lake Katwe will give us potassium.

With these efforts, you can visualize the magnitude of the agricultural production in Uganda. It will be massive. I can give one example. In the villages, production of bananas per hectare is 5.3 tonnes. However, Dr. Muranga, at Nyaruziinga, with Government support, produces 53 metric tonnes per hectare. This is where our industrial linkage with agriculture comes in.

Our strategy is that anything agricultural that is not consumed fresh, should be processed industrially so that it is preserved to be able to reach distant markets and also to add value to the raw-materials. We have done this for milk, for cotton, for some fruits (e.g. Soroti), for sugar cane (tea-sugar, ethanol and industrial sugar), for some plantation products, for some bananas (wines, flour, sanitizers), for some of the maize (flour, animal feed, later ethanol, industrial alcohol), etc.

This now brings me to the massive theft that has been going on with coffee. Right from 1986, I started the struggle to add value to our coffee because our cadres who were deployed there told me of the value differentials between our coffee sold as beans and what it would get when processed as soluble coffee, or any other type of final coffee, to be consumed. At that time, the kg of beans of coffee would give us USD1, while the same coffee processed would give USD14. Many times in meetings, I would point out that those who say they are donors, are actually donees, because, in every kg, Uganda was giving USD13 dollars to the outside World and also donating jobs. Whose children roast the green beans and grind them to powder in Europe? Are they our children? Whose electricity is used? I have checked the latest figure.

There is a type of robusta coffee that is known as Screen 18. Sold as green coffee, after removing the skin, apparently, our people are being paid USD 3.34 per kg. When a kg is roasted in London and ground, it shrinks to 700grams and packed into packets of 300grams each. Each packet is sold at USD12, which means that 700grammes may fetch about USD30. Therefore, for what Uganda gets USD 3.34, the smart people of UK, get USD30. Each coffee bean that is sold in supermarkets abroad, takes away our phosphorous, our nitrogen, our potassium and other nutrients for 10% of the value at which the final consumer buys the product. 90% of the value of that product from our soils and 100% of the accompanying jobs that go with the roasting, grinding and packaging of the product at that stage, are all donated to the outsiders. The total value of coffee in the World is US$460 billion. However, of this figure, the coffee growing countries only take USD 25 billion. The African coffee growing countries only take USD ……….

Exporters of unprocessed raw-materials, where it is economic to add value, are exploiters. When we de-hust, roast, grind and pack here, Uganda will get more dollars and we shall also pay higher prices to our farmers. The farmers are now cheated because the biggest beneficiaries from our coffee are the external roaster, grinders and packers of coffee.

The story about blending etc. is nonsense. That blending etc. is nonsense. That blending can be done here. We have both Robusta and Arabica. In any case, I hear that our good robusta is used to blend inferior coffees from other areas, but in Europe. It is this centuries-old haemorrhage that the Hon. Abed Bwanika was so passionately supporting here some weeks ago. It is this haemorrhage that the NRM opposed from the beginning in the point 5 of the NRM’s 10 points programme already referred to. We oppose this haemorrhage in all the raw-materials: milk, cotton, skins and hides, timber, iron ore (obutare), copper (ekikomo), gold, tin, lithium, wolfram, petroleum, etc. It is this haemorrhage that is responsible for the stagnation of Africa. The total GDP of Africa is USD 2.7 trillion, smaller than or equal to individual economies of Japan USD 5.06 trillion, that of India is USD2.66 trillion, UK USD 2.67 trillion, France USD 2.63 trillion, Germany is USD 3.85trillion, small South Korea is USD 1.63 trillion, USA USD 20.89 trillion and China USD 14.72trillion. Yet Africa is 12 times the size of India, with a population of 1,406,013,839 billion, that is 4 times that of the USA. The continued export of raw-materials by Africa is the new form of slavery. Export of value in exchange for no value (mirrors, combs for our ignorant chiefs in exchange for slaves) or for little value like now – 10% value of the final product. The export of raw-materials and slaves for the last 600 years is the cause of this stunting (okuningama).

Ever since 1986, I have been trying to get value adders to all our raw-materials. Sometimes I succeeded like with milk (Sameer, Brookside, Pearl, Kagate, etc.), Cotton (Nytil, Fine Spinners), wood (plywood in Katuugo), Palm Oil (Bidco, etc.), sugar (many companies), Petroleum (Refinery), Bananas (Dr. Muranga, Kyamuhangyire etc.), Skins and Hides (Nakyobe), Gold (six refineries), etc. With coffee, I tried so many groups – Nescafe, Nestle, Tata, Bancafe (Banya), Star Coffee (Tz-Bukoba), to no avail. When I met Madame Pinetti, she had no idea about coffee. I, however, could see that she had a wide network of contacts. I asked her to look into coffee. After sometime, she came back with a positive report that it was doable. Therefore, those attacking that project, are supporters of okukenenula, (ekyejwiiso) of Africa – perpetual bleeding. If they were not, they would have responded to our call of 1986 and after, to come forward and add value to coffee and seek government assistance. Instead of attacking the saviour (oyo anataasa), if you are genuine, join the liberation effort. It is criminal for anybody to continue arguing for the continued export of raw-materials in Africa when there is 90% more value in that product that you are giving to outsiders.

Apart from the huge expansion of the agricultural sector and the concomitant expansion of the agro-industrial sector, there are industries that we are promoting based on our minerals: oil and gas (refinery, petro-chemicals, fertilizers); iron-ore (steel – Kabaale); copper (the electrical industries – cables, transformers, electrical appliances); lithium (electrical car batteries); niobium (ingots, bars, billets, rods); tin (tin plates, buckets, cooking utensils); coltan (laptops, medical equipment, smartphones); wolfram(electric filaments, ammunition); etc., etc.

The work in the services sector is familiar to Honourable members in the form of tourism, transport (Airline, the railway, etc.), entertainment, etc.

With the masses, apart from the PDM, there is a programme of Emyooga – the 18 of them as listed here:

Boda Boda SACCO;

Women Entrepreneurs’ SACCO;

Carpenters’ SACCO;

Salon Operators’ SACCO;

Taxi Operators’ SACCO;

Restaurateurs SACCO;

Welders’ SACCO;

Market Vendors’ SACCO;

Youth Leaders’ SACCO;

PWDs’ SACCO;

Produce Dealers’ SACCO;

Mechanics’ SACCO;

Tailors’ SACCO;

Local Elected Leaders SACCO;

Veterans SACCO;

Journalists SACCO;

Performing Artists SACCO;

Fishermen’s SACCO.

The contact point for this effort is at the constituency. As you can see, the spectrum covers most of the modest artisanal skills that produce products for ordinary use.

The four sectors – commercial agriculture – big or small, intensive or extensive; industries – big or small, including SMEs and artisanship; services (transport, tourism, hotels, entertainment, professional services e.g. doctors, etc.); and ICT; if aggressively pushed, will cause massive social-economic transformation. I estimate that commercial agriculture alone, can create 50million jobs if you assume five million households engaged in small scale agriculture of the Rwengaaju type and each household employing 10 people. This would be a transitional situation because the developed economies, have small numbers of employees in agriculture and more numbers in services and industry, while under-developed economies, have many numbers unemployed or in “disguised unemployment” presented as “agriculture” and only few numbers employed in the four sectors: commercial agriculture, industries, services and ICT.

Apart from universal commercial agriculture; industries based on agro-processing, forest products, etc.; services; and ICT; there are industries that are based on the intellect of the human brain. The industries of electric and conventional automobiles (buses, mini-buses, trucks, motorbikes, etc.), the pathogenic economy (vaccines, pharmaceuticals, for humans and livestock), space science, energy (including nuclear energy) etc., have each, at least, a nucleus already laid down, as I speak today.

The Book of Galatians, Chapter 6, Verse 7, in the Bible, tells us that whatever a man sows, that is what he reaps (Buri muntu weena eki abiba, nikyo agyesha). How has the NRM brought Uganda to the door-step (ekisasi) of the middle income status from such a low base and in spite of so many challenges? The following are the reasons:

The correct ideology of the NRM rejecting the sectarian ideas of the past actors, insisting on Patriotism, Pan-Africanism, Social-economic transformation and democracy; this removed oburyaane (disharmony and tension) from the community and the country; that is why Uganda has no refugees living outside Uganda – even when we had Kony and ADF terrorism, we had internally displaced persons, within the country, they never run outside Uganda.

A strong Army that has ensured peace within Uganda, all the challenges notwithstanding.

A strong private sector, encouraged by the correct, pro-private sector policies of the NRM; most of the surpluses referred to above, have been generated by the Private Sector – farmers, manufacturers etc.

The correct Pan-Africanist ideology of the NRM that saw the revival of the East African Community, the creation of COMESA and the Abuja Treaty of 1991, that, eventually, saw the birth of the CFTA (the Continental Free Trade Area). Today, Uganda exports goods and services (2020/2021) worth: USD 1.27143 billion to EAC, USD 1.67271 to COMESA and USD 2.03397 billion to CFTA. Algeria has a market of USD1.124 billion for dairy products that only awaits us to solve the problem of FMD (ejwa) and CBPP (kihaha). Ethiopia has a dairy products market of USD 30.473M that only awaits a reliable road from the Kaabong-Kotido area, to Southern Ethiopia.

The correct NRM policy of emphasizing science in Education and prioritizing the better payment of government scientists if we do not yet have enough money to pay everybody. Africa was colonized and enslaved and People were exterminated, dominated or marginalized, not because they lacked story-tellers, comedians, musicians, witchdoctors and priests, Kings and Queens, soldiers, farmers, etc.; but because they lagged behind in Science and technology. Inability to see this, is a threat to our survival as free people, if not survival at all. Our lagging behind in the technology of gun-powder and guns, for instance, was one of the greatest handicaps. The Private Sector needs scientists, in addition to the managerial cadreship. The state economic and social infrastructure needs scientists– researchers; engineers, for electricity, engineers for water, doctors, vets, etc.

The correct strategy of the NRM developing the infrastructure – the roads, the railway, the electricity, the piped water, the telephones, the internet etc. The crucial roles of infrastructure are to enable (e.g. electricity) and connect (e.g. roads, railways, telephones) the producers of goods and services and their consumers and do so cheaply – so that the product is not overpriced and, therefore, competitive in the market.

We could have achieved much more if it was not for either the confused people or the enemies of Africa, many times, obstructing us. I, for instance, remember the sabotage of Uganda tempo of development by the 6th Parliament of 1999, on the 8th, in the month of November, the year 1999, when they blocked the agreement I had negotiated with AES to produce power at 4.9 American cents and Mr. Chat Chai of Malee Sampran Public Company of Thailand was chased by Parliament, whom I had mobilized with the late Mzee Mulwana to help us with milk processing. Dr. Muranga’s banana project, has been maliciously obstructed many times. Recently, we witnessed the mishandling of the coffee value addition effort. Uganda has made these gigantic steps, such obstructions notwithstanding.

When it comes to the recent high commodity prices, caused, initially, by the re-launch of the world economy after the two years of lockdown and, additionally, by the war in Ukraine, our decision, after careful analysis, is to avoid the traps of tax cuts and subsidies. Instead, we are doing two things. One, is to engage the global actors that have caused these artificial shortages. I have contacted some of the actors. I am