President Museveni yesterday declared a new era of relentless effort, unveiling an ambitious 2026 economic agenda centred on narrowing income disparities through commercial agriculture, while bolstering the middle class and the wealthy elite. In his State of the Nation Address yesterday, a tough-talking President spoke of a term of ‘no more sleep, no more corruption, no more diversions, no more politeness for non-performers who want leadership positions for ego and personal intentions’.
The president’s remarks, according to MPs across the political spectrum, however, portrayed the government as a metaphorical three-cooking-stones, representing the Executive, Legislature, and Judiciary, making pledge after pledge, constantly announcing ambitious plans or engaging in endless debates about the future, yet failing to produce concrete outcomes. The President said Uganda cannot achieve transformation if leaders fail to guide citizens into productive work.
‘Either you lead, or you stay in your home. I hear of leaders talking about allowances to reach their people and mobilise them against poverty. I get nauseous…. All non-performers must leave leadership,’ he said. ‘This is the time to talk straight to everyone. Why should a Muluka chief (a local-level administrative leader) ask for a motorcycle to do his work? Let him ride a bicycle; it is better for him and he will live longer. I’m really sick and tired of parasitism, and that’s why I said, in this kisanja no more sleep.’
The president redefined the strategic direction of the ruling NRM government and tackled a cocktail of longstanding issues, including persistent bureaucratic hurdles, unkept promises and a noticeable gap between rhetoric and implementation. He highlighted impressive growth figures and showcased thriving farmers in rural areas, outlining ambitious plans for the future. However, he largely sidestepped pressing public concerns such as rising fuel prices, poor service delivery, unaffordable healthcare, and rampant corruption. These issues were mentioned only briefly, if at all and no tangible solutions or commitments were offered.
He struck an optimistic tone, noting the country has continued to enjoy uninterrupted peace and security, the bedrock of economic transformation. He applauded security agencies led by the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces for keeping peace and called on the Police and the Judiciary to ensure law and order for sustained economic development. He explained that the country has undergone unprecedented development in the 40 years he has been in power, underscoring growth in GDP to $69.3 billion by the forex exchange method from $60.4 billion in 2025. Museveni also announced that the GDP per Capita has risen to $1,278, putting Uganda in the lower-middle-income status.
While reflecting on this growth, the President also set an ambitious two-digit growth of 10 per cent that will push the size of the economy to $80 billion.
‘This financial year, the economy is projected to grow by 6.4 per cent, and the next financial year, the GDP will grow by 10 per cent, pushing the size of the economy to $80 billion. All this is before the start of the flow of our commercial oil,’ he said This growth will, in part, be driven by Uganda’s expanding export portfolio.
‘Uganda now exports manufactured goods, including pharmaceuticals, refined gold, steel, ICT products, ceramics, plastics, and dairy products, already talked about. Uganda’s exports reached $18 billion in the twelve months ending in March 2026,’ Museveni said, adding that ‘we are now set for further and faster growth and transformation.’ In the next year, Museveni said his government will prioritize investment in the four key sectors that were identified to deliver the tenfold growth strategy of the economy to Shs500 billion by 2040. These are commercial agriculture, manufacturing, services, and ICT. The government is also to focus on value addition of the raw materials like gold and the knowledge economy of automobiles, vaccines, and computers.
According to his numbers, agricultural production that undergirds the economy has grown multifold, with surpluses that now require a pan-Africanist approach of both political and economic integration to ensure markets. Milk production, for example, now stands at 5.4billion liters from 200million liters in 1986; fish at 727,000 metric tonnes, while coffee has grown to 9.3million of 60kgs bags from 2 million bags in 1986.
He committed that the government will continue to provide low-cost capital through initiatives like the Parish Development Model to boost the sector.
‘There is already Shs557 million in the Parish. It has reached 3.7 million households. We are going to put Shs100 million plus Shs15 million for the leaders per annum per parish in the rural areas and Shs300 million plus Shs15 million for the leaders per ward in the towns.’ He added: ‘With the big farmers and manufacturers, the Government has put a total of Shs1,600 billion in the Uganda Development Bank. The interest rate for that money is 12 percent per annum. The interest rate for PDM is 6 percent and is payable after two years. We are always creating other funds for the ghettos, for the musicians.’
On Infrastructure, Museveni explained that his government has tarmacked all core roads linking the landlocked country to its neighboring countries, and by extension, the markets there. However, the roads in the capital, Kampala, that remain an eyesore received no mention from the President. He, however, tasked the new ministers of Works and Transport to root out corruption that he said has undermined several projects, including the Kampala-Mityana-Mubende-Fort Portal road.
Like he pledged in the 2025 address and the one before that, he said that the metre-gauge railway is to be revamped and the standard gauge built to ease the transportation of goods and cargo. But, with pressing concerns of poor service delivery, corruption, and the ever-growing public debt, many Ugandans waited to hear a remedy to receive a passing mention.