“I said nobody should export timber which is unprocessed," President Yoweri Museveni reiterated his stance on timber exportation on Thursday.

"So if you are a furniture maker, that is what you want. Keep the timber and make the furniture here. So, if you want to export, you export the furniture, not the timber."

The President said this at the closure of the two-day fourth Bi-Annual CEO Retreat held at Kiira Vehicle plant in Uganda's eastern city of Jinja.

Organized by the Presidential CEO Forum (PCF), the retreat was aimed at highlighting the private sector's driving role in Uganda's development.

Recently, the National Policy Committee on Environment resolved to ban the export of timber and canceled all licenses and permits issued in this regard as a way of protecting the environment.

The move followed President Museveni's directive of June 21 2023 instructing Prime Minister Robinah Nabanja to reverse the worrying trend of deforestation.

'Experts of what?'

During the same meeting, Museveni suggested that Uganda should also persuade the government of her eastern neighbour DR Congo to also ban the importation of timber from Uganda in order to make his exportation ban to gain traction.

“Now when it is coming from Congo, I think we should also persuade our Congolese friends to make furniture because that will be a loophole. They will take out timber claiming that it's coming from Congo," said the President.

"That lack of vision is what I cannot support.

"State House, which we built in 2007, the furniture there is all imported, can you imagine? That is why I questioned the Comptroller who that time was there asking how they could allow us to sit on imported furniture."

Museveni added: "You don't make a plane, you don't make a computer, you don't make medicine, you can't even make furniture, what do you do? What sort of people are these?

Then you say, we are experts, experts of what? Ignorance?

"So that is why I cannot support the export of timber and import furniture. Convert the timber into furniture and export the furniture to those who don't have trees. You can imagine people are importing furniture from Dubai, a desert.”

On the issue of taxation on imported raw materials, President Museveni said the raw material should come in Uganda tax-free as long as it is not produced here.

“But if we have it here, why do you undermine us and how about intermediate products like the steel billets? But we shall discuss all that. Rt Hon. Rebecca [Kadaga - First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of EAC Affairs] will follow it up and we shall discuss it,” he assured.

'Free consultancy'

Turning to the Bi-Annual CEO Retreat, Museveni commended the organizers and said they play an important role in developing Uganda.

“The PCF retreat is a very good attempt, and I will always attend whenever organized because I always get free consultancy. Why would I refuse free consultancy? I have to be happy with them for helping me,” he said.

He also asked Ugandans to support UPDF's National Enterprise Corporation (NEC), explaining that it has the capacity to help Uganda build an independent, integrated and self-sustaining economy.

“I want to thank Lt. Gen James Mugira, the managing director of the National Enterprise Corporation and his group. You can see that your children are educated, they have all the capacity, but the problem has been the backup," he said.

"They are not utilized, so if the whole system wakes up and understands our original point number five of building an independent integrated, self-sustaining economy, they will do it. These people are educated."

The retreat in Jinja was themed: 'Uganda’s Industrialisation Agenda: Positioning Uganda as a net source of E-mobility Solutions in Africa'.

Over 300 business leaders, government executives, investors and scientists attended it.