Museveni to deliver State of Nation address
Jun 04, 2015
President Yoweri Museveni is due to make his annual State of the Nation Address later on Thursday.
By Moses Walubiri
In accordance with Article 101(1) of the constitution, President Yoweri Museveni will Thursday afternoon (today) make his annual State of the Nation Address, during which he will highlight the economic, social and political state of the country.
The occasion will be used to officially open the fifth and last session of the ninth parliament as its term comes to a close in May next year.
As has been the case in previous State of the Nation Addresses, Museveni is expected to highlight the state of the economy, citing 'star' performing sectors, and the structural bottlenecks hampering Uganda's economy.
This will entail giving the country a holistic picture of the rate at which Uganda's economy has grown over the last 12 months and data about the total percentage of Ugandans living below the poverty line.
The president is also expected to reveal the executive's legislative agenda through informing the Speaker of parliament the type of Bills that it intends to table for consideration by parliament.
In the 2014 State of the Nation Address, the executive promised to table 21 Bills for consideration by parliament. However, only the Finance Bill 2014 has been passed, while the Bill for the Amendment of Electoral Laws is currently under consideration by parliament.
Museveni is expected to inform the country the priority economic sectors his government is set to focus on as part of Uganda's economic blue print – Vision 2040. Vision 2040 is aimed at turning Uganda into a middle income country within the next 25 years.
How to haul millions of youths from the abyss of unemployment is likely to form a considerable part of Museveni's address.
Last year, Museveni's State of the Nation Address was centered on four basic priority sectors – agriculture, industry, services and ICT.
HERE IS 2014'S STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS