President Yoweri Museveni stressed that the socio-economic transformation of society can be achieved by encouraging the population to join the money economy through modern commercial and calculated agriculture.
“In 1969, only 4% of the population in Uganda was in money economy until 2013 when the number increased to 32%. Today, 61% of the people in Uganda have joined the money economy. So, commercial agriculture with calculation,” he said.
President Museveni was delivering a lecture on Opportunities to a visiting delegation of Senior Military Officers from the National Defense College of Kenya led by the Deputy Commandant of the College Major General Kahariri.
The delegation that arrived in Uganda on the 2nd of December 2022 is composed of Officers from Namibia, Nigeria, Botswana, Tanzania and Kenya on a study tour in the country.
The President told the visiting delegation that another channel of transforming society is through education adding that in Uganda the government adopted the universal primary and secondary school education program to enable all school-going children to attain knowledge.
He said once the population wakes up and increases production there will be a need for markets emphasizing the need for the promotion of the principles of NRM that include Patriotism and Pan-Africanism needed for the expansion of the national, regional and international markets for the increased farm production.
The President who took his guests through the European history that saw the society transform from peasantry to middle and skilled classes added that in Uganda the government worked on the recovery program and is now in the process of diversifying and expanding the economy.
General Museveni told his guests that products that were initially considered for consumption only like maize, Cassava as well as milk and beef have now been diversified for commercial purposes.
He added that Uganda is today very active in the sector of the pathogenic economy involving pharmaceuticals, making of vaccines and sanitisers.
“When Corona came Uganda was the first country in East Africa to start making sanitisers, this is another category of Industries. This is the economy we are using to transform society,” he said.
He said the government is also bringing on board new industries like the designing and manufacture of electric vehicles buses and cars like the Kiira vehicles named after the river Nile.
“We are now moving towards the knowledge and skills Industry,” he observed.
Commenting on some of the concerns raised by the military officers like the value addition General Museveni cited coffee whose process has been a huge struggle.
He noted that the value of coffee in the whole world is $460 billion and the coffee producers in the whole world share $ 25 bn and Africa earns only $ 2.5 bn and Uganda gets only $ 800 million.
He stressed that the struggle will continue as jobs and money is lost in the process of exporting raw material.
On the media to promote African interests, General Museveni proposed that a channel similar to that of Al Jazeera be developed to get our message across to the world.
The delegation was accompanied by the Ambassador of Kenya to Uganda Ambassador Rtd. Major General George Owino who while moving a vote of thanks commended General Museveni for inviting the group to Uganda and for a fruitful lecture that enlightened them on several issues.
Others in the team included the Director Protocol UPDF colonel Naboth Mwesigwa and the protocol Officer in charge of the delegation Major Ben Kibikka.