Govt lays ground for economic transformation

For the last four and-a-half years, Uganda's dream of transforming from a predominantly low-income society to a competitive middle income country has been at the centre of policy plans.

Part of this dream reflects in the NRM Manifesto (2006-2021) which is anchored on one broad promise: to take Uganda to modernity through job-creation and inclusive development.

When President Yoweri Museveni was sworn-in on May 12, 2016 at Kololo Independence Grounds, one of his key promises was that government would prioritise income generation, lift many Ugandans out of poverty and build a prosperous nation.

During the previous term, Museveni, who is the chairperson of NRM, prioritised infrastructure development, especially the road network and electricity. In the 2016 NRM manifesto, he set wealth creation as the next course of action to get the country out of the throes of underdevelopment.

Museveni, who came to power in 1986 after a five-year-long protracted guerrilla war in the jungles of Luwero Triangle (19811986), highlighted his key areas of focus. The priorities were: strengthening security, good governance and democracy; consolidating growth, employment and macro-economic stability; agriculture, industry, tourism, human capital development; health, infrastructure development for competitiveness, trade, sustainable harnessing of natural resources, public and private sector institutional development, and international and regional cooperation.

As the President prepares to seek a fresh mandate in next general election, the NRM will be highlighting a set of accomplishments against set targets.

AGRICULTURE

Agriculture, which contributes about 25% of Uganda's GDP and employs more than 72% of Ugandans, is also critical in provision of employment, food security, export earnings and supply of raw materials for industry.

Agriculture is one of the priority sectors envisaged under the National Development Plan II to help create jobs, increase household incomes and fight poverty. Over the last five years, the NRM has come up with interventions to increase investment in agriculture with an overarching ambition to shift from peasantry to commercial agriculture.

The agriculture ministry and its agencies have embarked on an aggressive campaign to promote planting of high value crops and value addition to them. Through interventions such as the National Agriculture Advisory Services (NAADS) programme, farmers have had access to farm inputs and machinery for production.

The NAADS programme is being boosted by UPDF under Operation Wealth Creation, with households given agricultural inputs to enhance output, household incomes and food security. Key reforms in the sector include the gradual roll out of the single spine extension services for more effective agricultural extension services.

Irrigation schemes have been revamped including Mobuku, Kibimba, Olweny and Doho, while numerous small-scale irrigation demonstration farms have been established.

By 2016, over 531 valley dams had been established in the cattle corridor districts and Karamoja region, providing more than 1,000,000 cubic metres of water storage. The sector has also tamed major diseases, vectors and pests such as banana bacterial wilt, maize lethal necrosis, coffee leaf rust and foot and mouth disease.

Over the last five years, commercial farmers have received agricultural equipment like tractors, multipurpose threshers and earth moving equipment. . Government has also rallied small holder farmers to adopt the Four-Acre Model through which an acre is dedicated to a perennial cash crop such as coffee, tea and cocoa.

Another acre is dedicated to fruits, one other to pasture for dairy cattle for daily income and one acre is dedicated to growing of food for food security and high value crops.
Each of the selected homesteads for the four-acre model will be supported to start poultry and for non-Muslims piggery projects in their back yard.

One other key priority highlighted is the expansion of fresh water sources to boost production and industrial activities. As a result, production of key commodities has gone up. Maize production has gone up from 500,000 bags to five million bags and the crop is a bankable non-traditional cash crop.

The agriculture ministry's performance report for the year 2018/19 shows a substantial increase in production of coffee, one of Uganda's largest foreign exchange earners. Uganda's coffee production has expanded from 4.46 million (60kg) bags in 2016 to 5.63 million bags in the year 2018, according to statistics from the ministry of agriculture. 



INFRASTRUCTURE

The iconic new Nile Bridge in Jinja was open and construction of the Kampala-Entebbe expressway was completed, with the latter shortening the time to reach Entebbe from Kampala.

The country's paved road network has expanded significantly to more than 5100km. The 183MW Isimba Hydropower dam was completed and switched on while the 600MW Karuma Hydropower Dam is expected to switch on power by the end of this year, according to Robert Kassande, the energy ministry's permanent secretary.

The country's electricity generation increased to over 1,200MW in 2020, up from 924.9 MW in 2016. The first phase of works to upgrade and expand Entebbe International Airport are nearing completion.

The airport expansion project will establish a new cargo centre complex with 100,000-tonne capacity and a new passenger terminal complex with 20,000 square meters. The revival of the national carrier —Uganda Airlines — last year has boosted Uganda's image abroad. Four Bombardier CRJ900 jets are already flying Uganda's flag.

In the oil and gas sector, President Museveni and his Tanzanian counterpart, John Magufuli, signed an agreement in September to start construction on a 1,445km oil pipeline.

The signing of the pact is a crucial step towards commercial oil production and a gateway for job creation and economic development in the East Africa region. A number of critical oil roads in the Albertine Graben are under construction or have been completed. 

SECURITY

Uganda has remained largely peaceful and stable since 2016, with no major threats from external sources, while domestic crime has declined over the last four years.

The 2019 Annual Crime Report shows a 9.8% decrease in the rate of crimes fi led to Police, with 215,224 cases reported in 2019, down from 238,746 cases in 2018. Professionalisation and modernisation of security forces has allowed them to combat high-profi le crime and investigate sophisticated cases.

The president's 10-point security plan which includes gun fi nger printing, installation of CCTV cameras, use of digital number plates, and deployment of LDUs, have helped to curb crime.

JOB CREATION

The NRM pledged to create an enabling environment and incentives for investments in agro-based value-addition (manufacturing) and the service sector to create jobs.

Over five million jobs have been created in over 5,000 factories established countrywide, according to Willis Bashasha, the director Manifesto Implementation Unit at the Offi ce of the President.

Government has also supported about one million youth and women to start or improve their businesses through the Youth Livelihood Fund (YLP), Uganda Women Empowerment Fund (UWEP)s, Emyooga initiative, among other interventions.