NRM Manifesto: Museveni calls for science-led economy

POLITICS

President Yoweri Museveni, who is also the chairman of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), has called for a science-led economy, urging the 14-member team that the party has constituted to write the 2021-2026 party manifesto to focus on export promotion and import substitution.

This was on Saturday during the inauguration of the NRM manifesto committee at State House, Entebbe. "The private sector is a critical player in economic growth and development of an economy and is the engine for job creation, increased production, productivity, value-addition and a national revenue base of the economy," the President added, urging the manifesto team to be pro-people while crafting the NRM agenda for the 2021-2026 re-election plan for the country.

The manifesto team, headed by the justice and constitutional affairs minister, Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu, an economist by training, will draft the manifesto under the direct guidance of Museveni. According to the terms, they must be mindful of the current phase of development — from backwardness to modernity, take-off stage and the eventual first-world status.

The path of the socio economic development of the country and NRM's ideology, philosophy and strategy are the other issues that Museveni said must guide the Kamuntu manifesto team.

The President, according to a release from State House, said the prevailing peace and security in the country ushered in by the NRM have laid a strong foundation for the private sector to thrive. However, he added that there are still bottlenecks to achieving an integrated and self-sustaining economy, such as the cost of money for agriculture, industry and some of the growing energy-giving services sectors like tourism.

The other bottlenecks, Museveni said, include the cost of transport and electricity, as well as availability of water for production This manifesto, the President said, should, therefore, address the export promotion and import substitution strategy in the real economy, which deals with the nine basic human needs.

These are food, clothing, shelter, medicine, security, physical infrastructure such as railways, roads, electricity and telephones, health infrastructure, education infrastructure and spiritual work. During the inauguration, also attended by the Prime Minister, Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, the President urged the committee to use the historical analysis of Uganda to enable citizens understand where Uganda is now in terms of the relentless efforts of the NRM in the socioeconomic transformation of the Ugandan society.

Kamuntu is deputised by the NRM deputy secretary general, Richard Todwong. In his acceptance speech on behalf of the members, Kamuntu thanked the President for the trust and confidence he has put in the committee and pledged to perform to his expectations. He added that his manifesto committee will follow the President's vision of transforming Uganda from a poor to a modern developed country. The team was appointed by Museveni under Article 14(1) of the NRM constitution.

The 2016-2021 NRM manifesto was coined under the catch phrase ‘steady progress' and themed, Taking Uganda Through Job Creation and Inclusive Development. Under the 2021-2026 manifesto framework, Museveni said, the Kamuntu team should remind the country of the state of the economy by 1900 at the dawn of colonialism, 1962 at independence, 1986 following the 16 years of turmoil, the recovery since that time and the present state.