Museveni aide Namayalo Hadijah outlines 6 Reasons How the NRM has brought Uganda to the door-step of the middle income status from such a low base?
Upon reading and understanding the aspirations of H.E Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, I have decided to compiled for you reasons how the NRM has brought Uganda to the door-step (ekisasi) of the middle income status from such a low base and in spite of so many challenges?. Facts extracted from the speeches of H.E Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
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 14 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.Namayalo Hadijah Head Office of the NRM National Chairman
- The correct NRM policy of emphasizing science in Education and prioritizing the better payment of 15 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, etc.; doctors; vets; etc.Namayalo Hadijah Head Office of the NRM National Chairman
- 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.Namayalo Hadijah Head Office of the NRM National Chairman
We could have achieved much more if it was not for either the confused people or the enemies of Africa, many 16 times, obstructing us.
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. The Chairperson of the AU, H.E. Mack Sall, met H.E. Putin in Sochi, Russia to ask him to assist in getting the wheat of Ukraine out of the Ports of Odessa and he has also talked to the Europeans to stop sanctioning wheat from Russia and fertilizers because Africa needs them. This is one of the correct ways. The other one, is to get our own substitutes – cassava and banana flour for bread and our own sunflower, soya beans oil as we wait for our more quantities of Palm Oil from Sango Bay, Mayuge, Buvuma, Maruzi, Bundibugyo, etc.
Cutting taxes or subsidies, especially on imports, is suicidal because our people may buy carelessly and we end up draining our forex reserves. Moreover, cutting taxes or subsidizing, means taking away money from planned projects and putting it in consumption – fuel, bread, etc.
In foreign affairs, Uganda abstained in the votes in the UN on the issue of Ukraine. You must have heard the arguments of the two sides. We have communicated our views, confidentially, to the two sides – the Western Bloc and Russia. At some stage, we shall give our view publicly. On the issue of security within the Great Lakes Region, in Regional Conferences like the one we had in Nairobi, we share our history with the African brothers and sisters. Some of the problems never get solved on account of mixing up three issues: armed conflicts for just causes, armed conflicts for reactionary aims and the use of terrorist methods whatever the nature of the conflict – just or unjust. The tendency, which is not correct, is to bunch up all conflicting parties as “negative forces”. Uganda is a good laboratory for all manner of conflicts. We have the just wars like the ones waged between 1971 and 1986, by the different fighting groups, against the regimes of Amin, Obote II and Okello.
Authored by Ms Hadijah Namyalo,Head of the Office of the NRM National Chairman (ONC)