Uganda has greatly changed since 1986 — Museveni

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President Yoweri Museveni has said that anyone who fails to see how much Uganda has changed since 1986, when his National Resistance Movement (NRM) party came to power, “must be blind”.

The President made the remarks during a radio talk show on Arua One FM and a face-to-face interaction with the media at Arua State Lodge in Arua city on October 17.

This was five hours after holding campaign rallies in the districts of Obongi and Moyo, as he seeks his seventh consecutive presidential term in next year’s general election on the NRM ticket.

Museveni noted that Uganda’s economy has grown from $3.9 billion in 1986 to $66.1 billion, and said that by June next year, the economy will reach almost $67 billion using the forex method.

He stated that this economic recovery, expansion, diversification, value addition and the emerging knowledge economy have been enabled by peace and security, among other factors.

“When NRM took over the government, the politics had collapsed. There had been no proper political participation ever since independence; security and the economy had collapsed. As we speak today, all that has been fixed,” he said.

He also noted that Uganda’s exports have grown from less than $500 million in 1986 to about $13 billion now.

“So, you must be blind if you don’t see what huge changes have taken place. By June next year, the economy will be almost $67b from $3.9b in 1986. So, there have been big changes for sure, but I have guided and shown these people (Ugandans) that we can take a qualitative leap and go to high middle-income status or even a first-world economy,” he said.

“So, it is protecting the gains but also leaping forward to a modern level through free education for all and household wealth creation,” he added.

Museveni, who took power after a five-year bush war that followed a decade of brutality under Idi Amin’s regime, has repeatedly said he places his fate in the hands of his party and the people.

He is being challenged by seven candidates: Robert Kyagulanyi of the National Unity Platform, Joseph Kasibante of the National Peasants Party, Robert Mabirizi of the Conservative Party, and Mugisha Muntu of the Alliance for National Transformation. 

Others include Nandala Mafabi of the Forum for Democratic Change, Mubarak Munyagwa of the Common Man’s Party, and Frank Kabinga of the Revolutionary People’s Party.