President Yoweri Museveni has promised to create 2,585,600 jobs, reduce wasteful expenditure in government by re-allocating moneys for workshops and travel abroad to priority areas, increase salaries for civil servants and is considering to start paying workers per hour of work to increase output and efficiency.
Museveni says the bulk of his investment in the next five years will be in industrialization. And to motivate industrialists, Museveni says he will reduce the cost of power from the present 8.7 cents of US$ (Ush321) to 5 cents of US$ (Ush185) per unit.
The next NRM government is projecting reforms in public service to cure corruption, poor planning, budget indiscipline, weak leadership in ministries and agencies and weak oversight for efficiency.
Museveni plans to reform his next government by reducing bureaucracy, rationalizing ministries and agencies and increasing salaries for civil servants.
Museveni is also considering piece rate (pay based on output rather than hours) to increase productivity among both public and private workers. Museveni says they intend to reduce person-to-person method of work. And instead the NRM government will emphasize use of ICT to cut costs through e-Visa, e-Tax, e-driving permits and other government services.
Museveni is emphasizing import substitution by establishing industries that manufacture human medicine, plastic and paper packaging, industrial grade sugar, industrial alcohol, starch, iron and steel.
Museveni plans to spend $1.8b in three years up to 2023 to modernize the armed forces to ensure that arms and security equipment such as street cameras and bombs are manufactured in Uganda.
The NRM government is proposing to start making sheet glass and iron sheets to save on foreign exchange and earn money from exporting it to other African countries.
Museveni says his next government is to focus on supporting production of fabric to make cloth (weaving and knitting), and fibre for making packaging paper and toilet paper. Museveni says the petroleum industry will provide synthetic fibre such as polyester that will be mixed with cotton to produce strong textiles.
The next NRM government shall also set up industries such as motor vehicle assembling plants and electronic products; manufacture of metals like simple spare parts; iron and steel; textile yarn and fabrics; paper and paper boards; sanitary fittings, plumbing and fixture fittings; beddings; and petrochemicals based on our emerging oil industry and others.
Museveni they will ship coal from Tanzania to Uganda to support local production of liquid steel. Incentives to reduce the cost of transportation of the iron ore from Muko and other mines for processing will also be provided. This will reduce importation of billets.
To quickly realize industrialization, NRM will put more money in UDB to provide affordable and long-term capital to agriculture, agro-processing and other manufacturers. This financial year (2020/21), a total of ush1,045bn has been allocated through UDB in addition to ush400bn already invested in the bank to capitalize it.
Over sh1,800bn will be provided over the next five years to set up industries in all regions of the country. This is expected to generate 82,300 direct, 80,300 indirect and over 23,000 induced jobs. Through agro-processing Museveni intends to create a total of over 1.9 million jobs (44% of them being direct and the rest indirect). Museveni estimates to generate another 500,000 jobs in tourism after deliberate interventions.
Museveni says they are also studying the possibility of establishing a National Farmers’ Bank.
The NRM presidential manifesto for the next five years (2021—2026) is based on five key areas that include; creating jobs and wealth, delivering education and health, ensuring justice and equity, protecting life and property and achieving economic and political integration.
Museveni says Uganda is now ready for take-off after years of economic resuscitation and recovery. The National Resistance Movement’s goal is to transform Uganda from a peasant to a modern, industrial and prosperous society by 2040.
Before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic hit Uganda in March 2020, GDP growth was at 6.5% in financial year 2018/19, 0.3 percentage points higher than the growth registered in financial year 2017/18, according to Uganda Bureau of Statistics.
Industry was the main driver of this growth, expanding at 10.8%, followed by agriculture (5%) and services (4.9%). Average commercial bank lending rate had reduced to 17.7%, while inflation was below the target rate of 5% since October 2017. Low food prices are mainly responsible for the low inflation, an indication of food sufficiency in the country.
The growth of the economy was mainly due to manufacturing, private and public sector construction, agriculture mainly food crop and livestock production, regional trade, tourism, ICT and financial services.
President Museveni says that getting the economy to benefit all Ugandans is the main unfinished business.
In the next five years, NRM promises to enhance household incomes and improving the quality of life of all Ugandans by focusing on import substitution, industrialization and export-oriented production. The target is to increase the contribution of the industrial sector to over a third of GDP, the share of Ugandans employed in industry to 26%, and the manufactured exports as a percentage of total exports to 50%.
NRM says it will lift 68.9% of households out of subsistence agriculture into the money market economy; increase productivity (yield per acre); output and quality of agricultural commodities to sustain domestic and export markets; reduce unemployment and underemployment of the young people; reduce cost of credit, electricity and transport; investment in scientific research and development; increase household incomes and industrialize through agro-processing.
The NRM government is also offering to reduce the import bill through import substitution, improving exports, improving labour productivity especially through technical skilling, improving quality of healthcare and education services, fighting environmental degradation and suppressing corruption and bureaucracy.
NRM is now going to invest in development of industrial parks, make effective use of UDB and revise the national trade policy as well as the EAC Common External Tariff so that they support industrialization efforts better. We are now ready for takeoff.
Jobs
Museveni says that for every shilling spent by his next government, there will be a requirement to report the number and quality of jobs created. NRM has identified four sectors for jobs and wealth creation; commercial agriculture, industrialization, service and Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
The NRM government says they will take advantage of opportunities created by COVID-19 to accelerate our industrialization agenda to create more jobs and wealth.
Manufacturing
Mr Museveni argues that import substitution is going to be one of the major key development
strategies in the next five years. He estimates that for every Ush10,000, Ugandans spend on locally manufactured products, Ush3,800 is ‘donated’ to countries such as China, India, and Turkey where the imports come from. He says that industrial production in Uganda is largely dependent on imported inputs, Uganda’s ability to create jobs for the young people.
Therefore, he says, his next government will support industries that use locally-sourced raw materials to produce most of the goods that we import.
“We shall also locally produce some of the intermediate goods we import such as plastic and paper packaging, industrial grade sugar, industrial alcohol, starch, iron and steel,” he says.
He adds that his next government will establish and expand production lines that address basic human needs and are within existing capabilities that include food processing, manufacture of agrochemicals, starch, pharmaceuticals (medicines), construction materials (cement, aluminium and steel), furniture, and manufacture of ceramics, kitchenware and plastic packaging.
Apparently, a “special development fund” is to be created under UDC. This will deliberately encourage location of manufacturing and other economic opportunities in each sub-region of the country, for instance Acholi, Ankole, Bukedi, Bunyoro, Busoga, Buganda, Bugisu, Sebei, Karamoja, Kigezi, Lango, Teso, Tooro/Rwenzori and West Nile. “These industries will be adding value to what is locally produced in each sub-region in the same way we invested in the fruit factory in Teso, Atiak sugar factory in Acholi, tea in Kigezi and Tooro,” he says.
In financial year (2020/21), a total of ush1,045bn has been allocated through UDB to support import substitution industrialization, agro-industrialization (value-addition), and other sectors such as education, health and tourism. This is in addition to the Ush400b already invested in the bank to capitalize it.
Museveni says he is also studying the possibility of establishing a National Farmers’ Bank. The Ush250b COVID-19 Recovery Fund will support SMEs that do not fall under Emyooga and do not qualify for the UDB Fund through selected financial institutions, particularly government-owned banks and SACCOs.
The ush138bn allocated in UDC in financial 2020/21 will be invested in Soroti Fruit Factory, Mpanga Tea Factory, Mutuma Commercial Agency (Cotton), Budadiri Arabic Coffee Ltd, Kika Coffee Factory, Integrated Lime, Cement and Marble plants in Moroto, Bukona Agro-processors Ltd (Ethanol in Nwoya).
The others to be assisted financially; Veterinary Medicine and Vaccines at Namanve, Yumbe Mango Factory, Cassava Processing Factories (Acholi Bur, Bargadhai, Kibuku), Gamma Irradiation Facility in Entebbe, a coffee factory in Kazo, Farmer-owned Sugar Factory in Busoga, Grain storage factories in Busoga and Bunyoro regions, potato factories in Kabale and Kisoro. In addition, the funds will be used to carry out feasibility studies in various green fields.
Museveni promises to reduce the cost of transport by developing water transport and revamping the railway to ferry produce on Lake Victoria to Mombasa and Dar es Salaam ports.
He says they will set up industries such as motor vehicle assembling plants and electronic products; manufacture of metals like simple spare parts; iron and steel; textile yarn and fabrics; paper and paper boards; sanitary fittings, plumbing and fixture fittings; beddings; and petrochemicals based on our emerging oil industry
For the iron and steel industry in particular, through the Uganda Railway Corporation, Museveni’s next government is going to work with the private sector to provide a dedicated ship to transport coal from Tanzania to Uganda to support local production of liquid steel.In addition, Museveni promises to develop the natural gas pipeline from Tanzania to Uganda to support local production of liquid steel.
Museveni promises to provide incentives to reduce the cost of transportation of the iron ore from Muko and other mines for processing to reduce importation of billets.
Skilling youth
Museveni says he plans to skill more youth in the country in carpentry, fabrication and welding, shoe-making, embroidery, tailoring, weaving, hairdressing, knitting, bakery, crafts and stone-cutting by establishing zonal industrial hubs.
Each centre will have an intake capacity of between 200 and 300 with dormitories to accommodate those coming from afar. Those living nearby will be day scholars. 20 zonal industrial hubs are being constructed. Skilling centres will be equipped with like carpentry machines, metal fabricating machines, a bakery unit, weaving and knitting equipment, tailoring and shoe-making centre
The youth and women skilling programme will be implemented in conjunction with the industrial parks. Both youth and women will be facilitated with finances, technology, standards and quality assurance to establish cottage industries.
Taxation
Uganda still lags behind in tax collection, even among her regional peers in EAC, COMESA and Sub-Saharan Africa. For example, the average tax-to- GDP ratio for Sub-Saharan Africa is 20%; Kenya’s stands at around 18% while Uganda is yet to achieve 15%.
A number of commodities in Uganda are under-taxed due to slackness among tax officials and policymakers. Museveni’s government has put in place a five-year domestic revenue mobilization strategy whose main objective is to raise the tax to GDP ratio to 16% by 2023.
Studies indicate that Uganda could raise tax revenue up to 23% of GDP annually should government reduce leakages and improve efficiency of the revenue administration systems.
For example, VAT compliance gap (the difference between potential VAT revenues under the current legal framework and the actual VAT revenues) is at 60%, which translates into 6% of Uganda’s GDP or nearly Ush2.5 trillion.
URA has already started to implement the Digital Tax Stamps (DTS) to effectively collect applicable tax revenues from sectors that have been difficult to monitor — such as beverages like beer, spirits, wine, soda, mineral water and tobacco products, both locally manufactured and imported. As a result DTS caused a surplus in July 2020, of ush179bn and in August ush354bn despite the negative impact of COVID-19 on the economy.
Mr Museveni plans to enforce more reforms to seal the revenue leakages, increase compliance and thus boost collection especially on preferential excise rates charged on beverages and exemptions on automobiles and aviation taxes have for years been the main sources of tax leakages.
On expenditure, Museveni plans to reallocate moneys for consumptive and unproductive expenses such as travel abroad, allowances for civil servants, consultancies, workshops, welfare and entertainment and hire of venue to industrial parks, emyooga for youth, scientists and innovators.
He says in the next five years his government will restructure the national budget and ensure that all consumptive items in the development budget are shifted to the nonwage budget for better monitoring and control against wastage.
Museveni has promised to renegotiate with development partners to ensure that funds for ongoing projects that were allocated on consumptive expenditure are re-channeled to the NDP III priorities within the respective sectors.
Rural development
Museveni has said his next government intends to scale up its efforts to provide incentives and support to smallholder farmers to use their land more productively to boost household incomes, escape poverty and set in motion the industrial revolution using the Parish Model. Museveni says his strategy will help 24 million people get into the monetized economy. Museveni says they will also increase working hours by creating off-farm opportunities as to support commercialization of agriculture that is industry and market-led.
Interventions in cash crops
Coffee
Museveni wants to increase coffee production to 20 million bags by 2025. The volume of coffee produced increased from 4.55 million 60kg bags in financial year 2015/16 to 7.75 million in 2019/20 (70% increase). Uganda’s export earnings from coffee have also increased from $352m in 2015 to US$496m in 2019/20, notwithstanding the drop in coffee prices on the international market down to $1.62 per kg in 2019/20 from $2.06 in 2015/16.
Tea
15 new tea factories are being established Kyenjojo (2), Buhweju (3), Kanungu (1), Bushenyi (1), Rukiga (1), Kisoro (1), Ntungamo (1), Kamwenge (1), Mbarara (1), Luwero (1), Zombo (1) and Sheema (1). Reports indicate overproduction of tea leaves in some districts against the existing tea processing capacities, as is the case of Kyenjojo, Kabarole, Kanungu and Buhweju. Currently, there are 33 tea processing factories.
Sugar cane
In order to improve Uganda’s sugarcane production, NRM government will support farmers with quality fertilisers. It will further support the establishment of the National Sugar Research Centre to improve sugarcane varieties for high yields. UDC is also going to work with the Busoga Sugarcane Growers Association to set up a sugar factory in Busoga sub-region. In addition, the NRM government will support strategic private industries to develop back-end sugar refineries that will start to address the local demand for refined sugar.
Mr Museveni says that in order to complete the value chain for sugarcane (and cassava), the consumption of bioethanol and the reduction in petroleum imports, NRM will implement the introduction of a 10% bioethanol blending (E10) policy within the first year of the next term in an effort to support domestic production and consumption of bioethanol.
Cocoa
Museveni has promised to support the establishment of the first ever state-of-the art chocolate manufacturing factory in Bundibugyo to add value to Cocoa in the Rwenzori sub-region. The factory will also produce other products such as cocoa butter and powder.
Rice
Museveni plans o set up nucleus farms and support out-growers to produce and meet the country’s demand for rice through use irrigation or grow upland rice. Uganda has a deficit of 200,000 metric tons, which is being imported.
Horticulture
Museveni plans to invest ush979.7bn in horticulture over a period of five years. He says his next government will prioritize fruits (mango, citrus, passion fruit and avocado), vegetables (tomato and onion), spices (vanilla and capsicums) and ornamental plants (roses and a range of cuttings and summer flowers) for commercial production.
Museveni says he will finance support fruit processing factories in Nwoya district, Greater Masaka, Luwero, and Rwenzori sub-regions and also invest in additional equipment for Kapeeka fruit processing facility (2 MT/hr) and Kayunga pineapple processing facility (600kg/hr).
He plans to revamp the horticulture sub-sector through deployment of a commodity value chain approach and simultaneously target production, postharvest handling, marketing and utilization/ consumption nodes.
A centralized horticulture programme for co-ordination will be established at the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries. The Uganda Horticulture Society will also be formed to regulate professional conduct within the sub-sector.
Cassava
Through UDC Museveni plans to support the following cassava-based manufacturing factories that include: Acholi Bur Catholic Archdiocese, in Pader district to add value to cassava in northern Uganda, Bukona Agro-Processors in Nwoya district to convert cassava into ethanol and Bagadia Cassava Factory in Lira to add value.
Diary
Museveni’s government intends to establish four mini-dairy processing facilities (5,000-10,000 litres/hr) across the four regions of Uganda in the next five years. These facilities will be able to process dairy products such as pasteurized milk, yoghurt, ice cream and other allied products. Free pasture seed will be provided to farmers. Additionally, livestock farmers will be supported with feeds processing and conservation equipment as well as other technologies.
In addition, government will provide milk collection and bulk cooling facilities to farmer groups to enhance milk storage and subsequent value-addition and marketing.
In the next five years, government will provide in-calf heifers to smallholder farmers; build local capacity in conserved feed production; develop capacity for pasture and rangeland improvement in the national milk-sheds; support access to artificial insemination services and provide drugs.
Grain Milling
The NRM government plans to establish a large-scale grain milling facility in Kyenjojo and similar facilities in Bugiri, Sironko, Kapchorwa and Pallisa.
Role of OWC
In the next five years, Mr Museveni intends to give Operation Wealth Creation more responsibility by spearheading co-ordination of government Ministries Departments and Agencies to build regional agricultural processing and marketing hubs for maize, cassava, banana, beans, Irish potato, sweet potato, millet, sugar cane, cattle (beef), dairy cattle, coffee, tea, cocoa and fish.
Museveni says they will setup and equip farm service centres — one-stop-shop for quality agriculture inputs and information — for bulk input procurement, storage and distribution. Museveni says they will establish regional farm service centres starting with Rwenzori sub-region and northern Uganda.
Museveni estimates that his deliberate interventions will increase the total export value of processed agricultural commodities such as coffee, tea, fish, dairy, meat and maize from US$1b to US$4b.
They will also reduce the total value of imported food — cereals, vegetable fats and oils, and industrial grade sugar, which together cost the country over US$930m a year.
In addition, the interventions will also increase the number of jobs created in agro-industry along the various value chains by 500,000 each year in the next five years.
Infrastructure
Electricity
NRM is determined to reduce the cost of power, particularly for manufacturers to 5 cents of US$ (Ush185) per unit from the present 8.7 cents of US$ (Ush321). It used to be 10 cents US$ (Ush370).
Construction of power lines to 71 districts headquarters and potential growth centres (welding, carpentry, milk coolers and milling) will commence in December 2020 while construction in the remaining districts will start in 2021. When these connections are completed in 2023, all the sub-counties will have electricity. Museveni says they will connect West Nile on the national grid. Construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2022. The line will not only connect West Nile on the national grid, but also provide power supply reliably to northern Uganda
Museveni will look for ush45bn to supply both Buvuma and Sigulu Islands with electricity. To increase rural electrification, NRM has constructed over 14,820km of Medium Voltage (MV) power lines and approximately 10,000km of Low Voltage (LV) power distribution lines, which have translated into connections of over 1,000,000 consumers onto the national grid.
To reduce cooking by charcoal and firewood, Museveni’s next government will remove taxes on electric and LPG cookers and related infrastructure and develop LPG infrastructure countrywide to make it more accessible and affordable.
Railway transport
Museveni says he will rehabilitate the current Meter Gauge Railway line from Gulu to Pakwach and the Busoga loop (Jinja, Mbulamuti and Busembatia). This together withthe development of the Bukasa Inland Port (with Jinja, Port Bell and Bukakata as feeder ports) will facilitate connections across Lake Victoria to Kisumu onward to Mombasa and to Mwanza onward to
Dar-es- salaam. This will increase access and reduce the travel time to Mombasa and Dar es Salaam as well as increase volume of cargo to and from these two ports. This will also reduce over reliance on the northern corridor.
Water transport
Museveni has committed to modernise Port Bell and Jinja Pier. Port Bell will be developed as a passenger port, while Jinja Pier will be developed as a shipyard for Bukasa Port. Museveni said they will provide high-speed security boats for policing and emergency response.
Air transport
Two Airbus aircraft (A330) are expected to be delivered by December 2020 for Uganda Airlines, which was recently revived. Museveni says they will also purchase cargo planes for Uganda Airlines as a way of supporting export of agricultural produce. In the next five years, Museveni says construction of Hoima International Airport will be completed by 2023. The NRM government plans to complete the development and upgrade of Arua, Gulu and Kasese airfields into an airport of category 4C.
Road network
In the next five years, as a package of measures to reduce the cost of transport, Museveni’s next government plans reduce freight transportation costs from Mombasa Port and other ports to Kampala and other parts of the country; reduce average travel time within Kampala City and the surrounding areas; open up all parts of Uganda and connect them to the paved national road network; reduce the unit cost of building transport infrastructure and increase the average lifespan of roads from 15 to 20 years and more.
Traffic in Kampala
Recent estimates show that a staggering 24,000 person-hours are lost every day by people trapped in traffic jams. Museveni says they will to overhaul most of the roads in the city since they are beyond repair and maintenance.
Museveni says they will be implementing a light rail system (trams), cable cars, fly-overs, development of pedestrian, bike and bus lanes and a rapid bus transit system as potential solutions to congestion and poor connectivity. Government has already provided ush44.4bn to procure buses.
In the next five years, Zana-Kajjansi, Kampala-Mukono, Bwaise-Kawempe-Matugga roads expanded into four-lane. Nine new expressways will be constructed. They include; Busega-Mpigi, Kampala Flyover Project, Kibuye-Busega, Kampala-Jinja,Kampala Southern Bypass, Kampala-Bombo, Nakasero-Northern Bypass, Kampala Outer Beltway/Ring Road and Kampala-Busunju-Hoima
“We are going to step up road construction around and across the city, by putting emphasis on paving of access roads built off the main roads to encourage development of manufacturing clusters,” says Museveni.
In addition, 5,000km of district roads, 340km of urban roads and 8,000km of community access roads will be rehabilitated.
Markets
In the next five years, Museveni says they will develop Katuna, Lwakhakha, Busia, Oraba, Kikagate, Mpondwe (Kasese District) and Bunagana (Kisoro District) border markets.
ICT
Museveni’s next government plans to use ICT for e-education, e-security, e-governance, e-health, e-extension to deliver government services better. Ugandan youth will be supported to innovate to improve ICT services across the country.
Museveni says they will extend the broadband infrastructure coverage countrywide and implement last mile connectivity (taking internet services to the entire country) to all key service delivery units such as schools, hospitals, police, tourism sites, districts to the NBI conducted.
The next NRM government commits to provide communal broadband. For instance, transform all postal centres and community information centres into e-services delivery channels.
And expand the Digital Terrestrial Television and Radio Broadcasting network countrywide using both satellite and terrestrial signals to ensure that it is accessible by all.
Further, the national ID data shall be connected with the SIM card, passport, driving permit, property (such as land and vehicles) and registration databases.
Science and technology
Museveni promises to ensure that scientists in Uganda are paid salaries comparable to those in developed countries.
The NRM government will operationalize the Kiira Vehicle Pant and set up an automotive industrial and technology park to support a wide range of related investments such as manufacture of auto parts, vehicle testing and automotive technology innovation enterprises. NRM is going to invest ush400bn to build a vehicle industry.
Government will stimulate the local commercial production of vehicles by providing an off-take market for the vehicles it has been importing. KMC, in collaboration with Victoria Motors Ltd, will utilize the vehicle plant for assembly of the Mitsubishi Pickup and later the Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle Outlander.
In addition, Museveni has assured of a ready market for locally assembled buses especially the Kampala metropolitan bus transit system, which requires over 7,000 buses with a replacement cycle of 8 years.
Tourism
Museveni says his next government will increase annual foreign exchange receipts to $2.5bn in
2024/25, creating additional 500,000 jobs along the value chain by providing support to the sector to fast track its recovery from the impacts of COVID-19; implementing a national tourism marketing strategy- domestic and international- as well as building a positive and competitive image by rolling out the Pearl of Africa brand in Africa and 12 overseas markets and by upgrading 1,000km of national tourism roads, complete development of Hoima International Airport and expansion of Entebbe International Airport as well as construction and rehabilitation of marine routes including 20 piers on Lake Victoria and upgrading domestic airports such as Arua, Gulu and Kasese.
Museveni also plans to increase tourist accommodation rooms by 15,000 and build a Mahatma Gandhi International Convention Centre in Entebbe to boost the capacity of the country to host larger international conferences and events. Katonga, Pian Upe and Semliki wildlife reserves will be upgraded and build two regional museums.
Education
Government will construct 258 secondary schools in sub-counties without a public secondary school. These new ones will have 400-seater multipurpose halls, staff houses for six teachers, including the head teacher, an ICT laboratory, a library, six classrooms and science labs.
More secondary school teachers will be recruited and e-learning and computer literacy will be promoted.
The next NRM government will establish Nwoya Agro-processing Technical Institute and upgrade the six BTVET to centres of excellence. Government will further complete the construction of facilities in 21 BTVET Institutions
Government will also provide more scholarships and support students enrolling for science, technology and engineering courses and other trainings in courses that are marketable in the current local job market. The student loan scheme will stay.
Health
Museveni further plans to invest in herbal medicine to help herbalists develop commercial products whose safety and efficacy meet the world health standards.
The Natural Chemotherapeutic Research Institute was awarded a grant worth Ush2.04b with the immediate objective of enabling the Institute to research and develop a remedy for COVID-19. However, Museveni says the long-term aim however, is to facilitate development of safe herbal drugs for treatment of various diseases.
In addition, Museveni promises to provide incentives to promote locally manufactured drugs and medicines. He says his next government intends to sign off-take agreements with local drug manufacturers on a specified amount of drugs for a certain period, to support the growth of the sector.
The National Enterprise Corporation (NEC), an arm of the military will be capitalized to manufacture some of the human medicine. NEC is currently rehabilitating its pharmaceutical factory in Bugolobi, in Kampala, in partnership with Egyptians.
Museveni’s next government intends to renovate or construct theaters and wards in 37 HCIVs without functional theatres; construct at least 500 staff houses for health workers at HCIIIs
and HCIVs; construct regional cancer centres in Arua, Gulu, Jinja and Mbarara; construct an Orthopedic and Traumatology Institute at Mulago; complete Lubowa International Specialised Hospital; upgrade Kayunga, Yumbe and Kapchorwa general hospitals into regional referral hospitals and upgrade Gulu, Mbale and Mbarara regional referral hospitals to national referrals.
Museveni says they will construct a general hospital each in Wakiso district and
Lubaga division, Kampala.
Government will ensure that every sub-county has a functional Health Centre III with qualified staffs and a well-equipped maternity ward. Government will install blood fridges to store blood in 89 Health Centre IVs. Blood banks will be established in Arua, Moroto and Masaka regional referral hospitals to increase the availability of safe blood at the Health Centre IVs and hospitals.
Government will also establish permanent Port Health Services at 24 points of entry. Museveni says in the next five years they will recruit critical specialists and supportive staff including physiotherapists, ICU nurses, anesthetists and technologists for national and local government health facilities.
Water
Museveni says his next government will in five years construct and extend piped water supply (taps), deep boreholes, shallow wells and protected springs to all unserved villages. The next NRM government will increase overall access to safe and affordable water supply in urban areas, currently standing at 78% with an ultimate aim of 100% coverage. All cities, towns, trading centres, wards, cells and zones are to get clean water.
Environment
Museveni has promised to increase the national forest cover from 12.4% to 15% and increase in wetlands cover from 8.9% to 11.5% by 2026. Government will intensify tree planting by distributing 40 million trees free for planting on gazetted tree planting days. 200 million assorted tree seedlings will be distributed and planted thereby translating into restoration of 150,000ha of degraded natural forests in Central Forest Reserves, Local Forest Reserves and hilly areas in five years.
The NRM plans to restore encroached and degraded wetlands, riverbanks and lake shores estimated at 4,9421.6km2 out of the current 9,885.1km2. Government, in the next five years, intends to cancel any title given out on wetlands and increase manpower of the Environment Protection Police Unit from the current 186 to 350 in the short to medium term. Museveni has also promised to scrap import duty on both gas and electric cookers to promote use of gas and electricity for cooking.
Integration
Museveni has assured that his next government will fast-track the implementation of all the provisions of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement.
NRM will carry out a pay reform and continue with salary enhancements to remove injustices and address the compression ratio in salary scales. This will enable the salary of lower-level cadres to meet their basic needs. We are already progressively dealing with this, starting with teachers, soldiers and medical officers.
What Museveni “the African Bismarck” has achieved so far
Between 1986 when NRM took power and 2014 (the period studied by the researchers), Uganda’s GDP grew at an annual average rate of 6.7%, while per capita income was at an annual average rate of 3.5%. The researchers ranked, President Museveni above celebrated world leaders such as Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore and Park Chung Hee of South Korea.
The size of the economy has grown close to tenfold since 1986. The GDP per capita has also increased. Ugandans today live healthier and longer lives. They are better educated. Children no longer die of preventable diseases, and are attending school free of charge. Infrastructure has tremendously improved. The total tarmacked road network has increased fivefold. Lack of electricity is no longer a problem, but rather the lack of enough demand to consume the surplus produced. Telecommunication has improved; almost every adult has a phone.
Under President Museveni’s leadership, Uganda has significantly contributed to regional peace, security and stability. For instance, Uganda supported the African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa by hosting ANC fighters and training them for the liberation of South Africa against apartheid. Uganda also contributed to the restoration of peace in Rwanda, resettlement of refugees who had spread across East Africa and ending the genocide. Today, Uganda is a host to refugees because it is a safe country, unlike the days when her own people filled refugee camps in the region. During his time as President, Uganda People’s Defence Force has played a vital and positive role in the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Central African Republic.
