Independence Day celebrations are a waste of money, say Presidential candidate Mafabi

Independence Day anniversary celebrations by Uganda are a waste of money, 2026 General Election presidential candidate Nandala Mafabi has said.

Mafabi, who is the Forum for Democratic Change flag-bearer, made the remarks on October 9, 2025, as Uganda marked its 63rd Independence Day anniversary.

The national celebrations were held at the Kololo Independence Grounds in Kampala city and were graced by President Yoweri Museveni as the chief guest, international diginitaries, Members of Parliament, Ministers, top clerics and local Ugandans.

“I know you are farmers, but with roads, how do you even start saying you are independent? My government will make sure you have money in your homes, not to keep you in poverty, just like this government is doing.” (All Photos by Alfred Ochwo)

However, Nandala, while on the campaign trail in Bunyoro region in the districts of Masindi and Kiryandongo, claimed that the celebrations are 'wrong', telling prospective voters at Kabango town in Kabango town council: Are we really independent when we don’t have food in our homes, no medicine in hospitals, with these poor pot-holed roads in these districts? It's not worth a celebration, especially when you people do not have money in your pockets.

Mafabi, in his money economy message to the people of Masindi, promised to complete the construction of the Masindi-Buliisa road, which has taken over four years being under construction.

“I know you are farmers, but with roads, how do you even start saying you are independent? My government will make sure you have money in your homes, not to keep you in poverty, just like this government is doing.”

From the time he started campaigning, Mafabi's campaign message has been centred on the slogan: Fix the Economy, Money in the Pockets, and promises to tackle poverty through targeted economic programmes.

Museveni's message

However, Museveni, during the celebrations at Kololo, reflected on Uganda’s journey over the last six decades, saying that by the country’s 10th Independence Anniversary, Uganda was under “envious dictatorship,” and by the 20th anniversary, the once small economy based on three Cs and three Ts — coffee, cotton, copper, and tobacco, tea, and tourism — had completely collapsed.

He said Ugandans were surviving on magendo (black-market trading) and forex rackets before the NRM came in to rescue the country.

“I am happy to inform Ugandans that by June 2026, the economy of Uganda will have grown to $66.9 billion in size using the forex exchange method, or $197.9 billion using the purchasing power parity method,” the President said.

“In this financial year, the economy will grow by seven percent, and after the flow of oil, it will grow by double digits.”

He added that with the rise of many factories and the production of goods within the country, Uganda is now unstoppable. 

The President explained that Uganda has gone through five phases of transformation — from minimum recovery, to expansion, to diversification, to value addition, and now moving into technology — noting that institutions like Kiira Motors represent the next phase of industrial advancement.

Mafabi will be heading to Amolator and Dokolo today, October 10.