KISOZI, Uganda — President Yoweri Museveni on Monday called on National Resistance Movement youth leaders from Uganda’s Northern Region to focus their political mobilization efforts on peace, prosperity, health and skills development, moving beyond mere slogans.
Meeting the group at his Kisozi farm, Museveni emphasized that security and economic empowerment remain the foundation of Uganda’s progress. The youth leaders were drawn from the Lango, Acholi and West Nile sub-regions and were led by Hamson Denis Obua, the NRM vice chairperson for Northern Uganda and Government Chief Whip.
“The mobilization you should do is to show everybody, including the youth, how they can be prosperous,” Museveni said. “The first thing you should tell them is to support NRM because they need security.”
The president urged the youth to use Uganda’s history of instability, including the chaos of the 1980s, to explain the value of peace and compare the country’s current situation to instability in neighboring nations.
Health and Education
Museveni cautioned young people against “irresponsible lifestyles,” stressing that health is a key pillar of productivity. He reminded the youth that the government and parents fulfilled their responsibility through childhood immunization, but adulthood requires self-responsibility for health.
The president also strongly defended the government’s policy of Universal Primary and Secondary Education (UPE/USE), attributing its weakening and subsequent school dropouts to local elites, including teachers and parents’ associations, who reintroduced school charges.
“When we brought UPE, the elites did not follow it up. They brought back school charges, and that is how we got dropouts,” Museveni explained.
He urged the youth to defend the policy across the political divide, noting that those who dropped out are now being taken into Presidential Skilling Hubs.
Jobs and Development
After securing peace, health and education, Museveni said the next challenge is employment, which he predicted would mainly come from four sectors: commercial agriculture, manufacturing, services and Information and Communications Technology. He reiterated the importance of the four-acre model for household wealth creation.
Museveni asked the youth to take interest in government budgeting priorities, listing defense and security, roads, electricity, schools, health centers and wealth funds as his main focus areas.
He also endorsed door-to-door mobilization at the village level as more effective than previous methods and pledged continued investment in sports infrastructure, including the construction of more stadiums.
Dr. Mercy Lakisa, the vice chairperson for the Northern Region of the NRM Youth League, thanked the president for his engagement with young people, saying they feel recognized and included in the national development agenda.
She welcomed the ongoing parish-level mobilization but requested a “special package” for the youth, citing their large population size and role as the “backbone of grassroots mobilization” in responding to opposition narratives.
Lakisa also applauded the establishment of industrial parks, such as the one in Mbale, which she said employs over 10,000 young people, and requested that they be extended to other sub-regions. She also sought increased support for NRM Youth League SACCOs and requested expanded access to leadership and ideological training at the National Leadership Institute.
Lakisa reaffirmed the youth’s commitment to Museveni’s leadership and expressed confidence in delivering “over 95 per cent victory” in the next election.
