Monday August 26, 2025
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has yesterday Monday opened the 1st
Meeting of the 4th National Conference of the National Resistance
Movement (NRM) at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds, rallying delegates
to focus on discipline, fight poverty and corruption, and ensure every
Ugandan household joins the money economy.
Accompanied by the First Lady and Minister of Education and
Sports, Maama Janet Kataha Museveni, the President who is also
the National Chairman of the NRM, addressed thousands of
delegates from across the country gathered to elect special interest
group representatives and chart the Movement’s future direction.
The conference will see the election of leaders representing the
youth, elderly, workers, and persons with disabilities, among
others.
In his address, President Museveni expressed delight at the
youthful composition of many of the newly elected delegates,
describing it as a healthy sign of generational renewal within the
Movement. He urged them to uphold the NRM’s principles of
patriotism, Pan-Africanism, democracy and socio-economic
transformation, while taking the party’s vision deeper into
households across Uganda.
The President took delegates on a reflective journey of Uganda’s
economic transformation under the NRM, tracing progress from
the days of “minimum recovery” to what he now describes as the
country’s “take-off stage.”
He recalled the difficult years when Ugandans lacked basic
commodities such as sugar, salt, and soap, noting that those days
were about mere survival. He explained that Uganda later
expanded its economy through cash crops like coffee and tea,
diversified into other sectors, and is today producing higher-value
products.
President Museveni pointed to recent milestones such as the
manufacture of vehicles through Kiira Motors, the establishment
of vaccine production facilities, and the rise of ICT as evidence that
Uganda has firmly entered its industrial age.
“We are no longer in recovery; Uganda is in the take-off stage. We
are now manufacturing our own cars, producing vaccines, and
building an ICT-driven economy,” President Museveni said.
Turning to household wealth creation, the President stressed that
Uganda’s long-term stability rests on every family joining the
money economy. He recalled that in 2013, about 68 percent of the
population was still outside the money economy, but recent figures
show that 67 percent are now participating. He said the
government’s target is to ensure that no family is left behind.
To illustrate his point, President Museveni cited the example of
Joseph Ijaara, a farmer in Serere who uses a small piece of land to
achieve high returns through commercial agriculture. He
explained that Uganda’s money economy rests on four pillars —
agriculture, industry, services, and ICT — and urged delegates to
help their communities embrace at least one of these sectors.
“In the past, towns were only filled with shops, but today we are
building towns of factories where people work and earn. That is
the NRM difference,” he said.
The President challenged leaders to return to their communities
with a clear mission of tackling the issues that directly affect
ordinary Ugandans.
“What I want you to take from here is simple: fight poverty in your
families, fight corruption — don’t allow people to eat Parish
Development Model (PDM) money. Insist that the police fight
crime, and where they fail, report them,” he stressed.
President Museveni also underlined the importance of social
services as the foundation of transformation.
On health, he noted progress in the fight against malaria and
immunization campaigns but criticized the persistent theft of
drugs, which undermines treatment.
He reaffirmed the government’s plan to expand safe water access
to villages across the country.
On infrastructure, President Museveni revealed that each district
receives UGX 1.3 billion annually to maintain murram roads,
stressing that the funds must be properly used.
On education, President Museveni made one of his strongest
commitments of the day: ensuring free education in government
schools. He argued that since parents overwhelmingly prefer
government schools, fees must be abolished to allow every child
access to quality education.
“Once the NRM is voted again, we shall insist on free education in
all government schools. Support me so we can fully implement it,”
he said.
NRM Secretary General, Rt. Hon. Richard Todwong also addressed
the gathering, reminding delegates that the NRM is a Movement
bigger than any individual and that leadership must always be
seen as service, not self-enrichment.
He urged them to embody discipline, sacrifice, and responsibility
in their work, stressing that elections may come and go, but the
Movement and the people remain.
Dr. Tanga Odoi, the Chairman of the NRM Electoral Commission,
promised to deliver free and fair elections of leaders of special
interest groups and the subsequent elections that will follow in the
coming days.
