President Museveni is expected to address the nation today ahead of the national budget reading set for June 13. Photo | File
Today, President Museveni is set to deliver the State of Nation Address (Sona) to update the country on its economic, political and social fronts and also summarise the achievements of his government.
The President is also expected to give a forecast for the next financial year, beginning July, and peek into his current tenure until its close in May 2026.
The good
Amid the challenges that have drawn back the socio-economic and political fortunes during Mr Museveni’s sixth elective term, are equally also decent scores in national transformation across the country.
Security
Although some parts of the country have faced pockets of insecurity caused by rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), largely, Uganda has continued to enjoy relative peace, security and stability.
Education
The 2022 data from Uganda Bureau of Statistics shows that the adult literacy rate for Uganda has since increased from 56.1 percent in 1991 to 80.6 percent in 2022.
This has been attributed to the government’s investment in Universal Primary Education (UPE) programme with more than 12,000 UPE schools across the country as well as the privatisation policy.
The Ministry of Education lists 60 universities, with 12 public universities, and 48 private universities.
Energy supply
Statistics from the Ministry of Energy indicate that the current national electricity connectivity staggers between 57 and 60 percent, compared to less than 10 percent connectivity in the mid-1990s.
Road network
With the exception of the dilapidated capital city road network that has outlived its life span, many cities, municipalities, and districts have fairly good road networks, easing movement of people and goods. For instance, more than 200km of urban roads have been recently upgraded under Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development.
Agriculture
Uganda continues to enjoy good global standings in the production of key crops such as coffee, maize and vegetables. Other sectors like the dairy industry continue to grow, cashing in more than Shs970 billion from exports in the FY 2022/2023.
Data from Ubos Annual agricultural survey, 2019, shows the sector has contributed nearly 40 percent to the national gross domestic product.
Political democracy
Ugandans continue to enjoy the right to elect their leaders every five years through the general election. Although political players continue to demand electoral reforms, freer spaces, and demilitarising the election exercise, the electorate continues to hold their leaders accountable through elections.
Foreign relations
The government has maintained cordial relations in the region, Africa and the global stage. Nonetheless, countries that include the United Kingdom (UK), and United States of America (USA), have sanctioned some government officials.
Regional stability and refugee policy
The government has pursued deliberate efforts to ensure regional stability, including through Operations Shujaa, which seeks to neutralise the ADF rebels in neighbouring DR Congo.
Uganda is also engaged with the multidimensional African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (Atmis) to restore peace in the war-scarred Somalia. Uganda is also hosting more than 1.6 million refugees.
Oil and gas sector
The Petroleum Authority of Uganda, the oil sector regulator, has reaffirmed that commercial oil production will start in the fourth quarter of 2025. Infrastructure like roads, airport and oil facilities have all taken shape.
The bad
Although the ruling National Resistance Movement has registered some great strides in many areas in the past year, there are areas that have stained this shiny image as highlighted below.
High cost of living
The cost of living remains high as reflected in the rising fuel pump prices that experts say plays a major influence on the economy. The majority of Ugandans, especially the poor, cannot afford a large, filling, and nutritious meal a day, cannot pay school fees, dress well and are unable to move from one area to another.
Despite Bank of Uganda stablising the inflation rates to the current 6 percent from 11 percent last year, the prices of fuel have not gone down and are now at an average of Shs5,300 for a litre of diesel and Shs5,500 for a litre of petrol, forcing transport fares upwards. This increment, experts say, is directly affecting prices of all other goods and services.
Floods
The Western and Eastern regions of Uganda have suffered the wrath of natural disasters, especially floods. Only two months ago, at least eight people in Kasese died as the floods wreaked havoc after four rivers, including Muhokya, Mubuku, Sembwe, and Nyamwamba burst their banks.
In Jinja District, 1,600 vendors and families were left stranded after rising water of Lake Victoria washed away their markets, homes and washing bays at Masese landing Site.
Foot and mouth disease
Cattle farmers from various cattle corridors across the country, especially from Western Uganda have been grappling with FMD since November last year, forcing the government to institute livestock quarantine.
During a public audit of President Museveni’s four-acre model at Kisozi Primary School in Gomba District on May 24, several farmers appealed to Mr Museveni to fasten the procurement of foot and mouth disease (FMD) vaccines to enable them save their businesses that was being wiped out by the contagious disease.
Unemployment
As the President addresses the country today, the issue of unemployment, especially among the youth, continues to soar as more youthful populations become employable and many more are churned out of the universities and other institutions of higher learning.
Salaries
Disparities in salary increments among civil servants have remained a huge problem through the financial years. Although the government increased the salaries of scientists in the FY 2021/2022 and made promises to also increase the salaries of those engaged in the humanities, including teachers, in subsequent financial years, the promises have not been fulfilled and have adversely affected service delivery.
Unbalanced political climate
Despite the country operating under a multiparty political system, political actors, especially from the Opposition, have on several occasions accused security agencies of disrupting their activities.
So, Mr Museveni will be delivering Sona when the main Opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) party is locked in bitter exchanges with the police that has disrupted their mobilsation campaigns over claims that NUP disobeys the laid down guidelines.
Prices of agricultural products
Many farmers are counting losses after the prices of maize that once sold above Shs1,000 dropped to a miserable Shs500 and continue to dip. The farmers are also facing a high cost of living and are unable to meet their basic needs.
Diseases
Ugandans also continue to battle malaria that continues to be the number killer disease in the country despite numerous interventions by the government.
UPDF operations on lakes
Operations by the Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) on lakes across the country over illegal fishing has also affected the fishing community who say the operations have left them not only vulnerable but also poor and helpless.
The ugly
Modern-day slavery?
Despite the government earning $1.2b (about Shs4.5 trillion) annually from labour exports to the Middle East, the exported labour, especially housemaids, have remained generally bad. Young women have faced numerous challenges, including maltreatment by their employers, no or underpayment, arrests and others even killed.
Corruption
The Speaker of Parliament Anita Among, former Karamoja Minister Dr Gorreti Kitutu and her junior Agness Nandutu and current Planning State minister Amos Lugoloobi are currently battling sanctions that were slapped on them by the UK and US over corruption allegations. The Inspectorate of Government says Shs10t is lost annually to corruption.
Land conflicts
Multiple cases of land conflicts, especially land grabbing, some orchestrated by government officials, have been on the rise in the past one year. Ugly scenes of fights have been witnessed in numerous parts of the country, especially in the Central region, where the practice of double land ownership on one piece of land is common.
Debt burden
The June 2023 report by the Auditor General shows that the Public Debt had risen to unprecedented Shs96.1t of which Shs44.6t is domestic and Shs52.8t external debt. Experts say the debt will surpass Shs100t by June next year compared to Shs11.5t, which the government is borrowing in the FY2023/2024 that ends this month. Government is projected to borrow Shs13t in the next financial year.
A public debt analysis published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) titled, ‘Uganda’s Public Debt Dilemma, What Lies Ahead in 2024;, authored by Mr Amos Sanday, a research associate at the Economic Policy Research Centre, Makerere University, indicated that each Ugandan is now indebted to a tune of Shs2.5m.
High crime rates
The Uganda Police Force have for past weeks been arresting criminals, especially the youth, who steal from the public after assaulting them. Although the cases of crimes dropped in 2023 to 228,074 compared to 231,653 cases in 2022, the losses still climbed higher.
The 2023 Police Annual Crime Report released in February, shows valuable assets worth Shs1.8t were lost in 2023, up from Shs859b registered in 2022.
Question on transition
On February 20, Mr Norbert Mao, the Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister, asked President Museveni to prepare the country’s transition plan or risk losing what he has built for years.
Mr Mao said Mr Museveni’s government does not need to build more beautiful highways but to prepare a road map to hand over power or else the country will go back to the political turmoil of the late 1970s and early 1980s. To date, the question of transition remains unclear.
Road crashes
The traffic police despite all measures put in place to curb road crashes continue to release reports of road crashes and deaths. For example, police reported in its latest update that 65 people died and 338 sustained injuries from road crashes between May 12 and 18, with boda boda motorcycle taxi riders contributing the biggest percentage.
