JOBS, WEALTH ARE IN UGANDA, NOT ABROAD - PRESIDENT MUSEVENI

President Yoweri Museveni on Tuesday urged Ugandans to stop seeking jobs abroad and instead tap into opportunities at home, saying wealth and jobs are rooted in commercial agriculture, factories, artisans, digital innovation and services.

Museveni, accompanied by First Lady Janet Kataaha Museveni, arrived at Mbogo Grounds in Kawempe Division at 3:30 p.m. to cheering supporters, marking his second campaign rally in Kampala after a similar event in Rubaga Division on Monday.

Addressing the rally, Museveni said wealth creation remains one of the most misunderstood pillars of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) manifesto, a gap he said has pushed many young Ugandans to migrate to countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in search of work.

“People don’t know where wealth and jobs are,” Museveni said. “That is why many are going to Dubai, yet the opportunities are here.”

He urged young people to understand what he called “the address of wealth and jobs,” stressing that Uganda’s natural endowments give it an advantage over desert economies.

“You don’t need to go to Dubai,” Museveni said. “It is a desert. They don’t have timber, they don’t have agriculture. Here, you can grow, process and create wealth.”

Museveni said wealth in Uganda is anchored in four key sectors: commercial agriculture, industry and skills development, digital innovation, and services. He emphasized the need to move away from subsistence farming toward commercial production, even on small plots of land.

He cited the four-acre model, which includes coffee as a cash crop, vegetables, pasture for animals, food crops for household consumption, poultry for eggs, piggery and fish farming near wetlands.

“In places like Kawempe, you can still make money through peri-urban farming,” he said, pointing to backyard poultry, piggery and mushroom growing as viable income-generating activities.

The president also emphasized value addition as a critical path to job creation, saying crops such as maize can generate employment beyond farming. According to Museveni, maize creates jobs through production, processing into flour and animal feeds, and trade.

“If you don’t grow maize, you can process it. If you don’t process it, you can trade it,” he said. “That is how wealth is created.”

Museveni defended government wealth-creation programs, including the National Agricultural Advisory Services, Operation Wealth Creation and the Youth Livelihood Programme, saying they have helped Ugandans build capital since 1997.

Acknowledging concerns about mismanagement of public funds, Museveni said the Parish Development Model was introduced to ensure money reaches beneficiaries directly at the grassroots.

“That is why we decided to take the money to the parish so it goes straight to the people,” he said.

First Lady Janet Kataaha Museveni urged Ugandans, particularly young people, to adopt a mindset of productivity and national responsibility.

“We must ask ourselves what we can do for our country before asking what our country can do for us,” she said, urging voters to support leaders who prioritize stability and economic growth.

She called on supporters to vote for the NRM and President Museveni in the Jan. 15 elections, describing each vote as a contribution to building Uganda’s future.

Local leaders also raised service delivery concerns. Kawempe Division NRM Chairperson Madina Nsereko asked the government to upgrade Komboga Health Centre IV to hospital status and increase funding to the Kampala Capital City Authority for garbage management, street lighting and city cleaning.

NRM National Vice Chairperson Moses Kigongo appealed for peaceful and disciplined elections.

The Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) Executive Director Hajjat Sharifah Buzeki, KCCA Deputy Executive Director Benon Kigenyi, and other local leaders attended the rally.

The rally ended with calls for unity, peaceful elections and increased participation in government programs aimed at boosting household incomes and employment.

By Geofrey Mutegeki Araali

Communication and Media Relations Officer