PRESIDENT`S NEW YEAR MESSAGE,

2017
Fellow Ugandans,
I greet all of you the people of Uganda and congratulate you on finishing
the year 2016 and wish you a prosperous 2017. I extend condolences to
the families who lost their dear ones in the year that is just ended.
During this year of 2016, we had successful general and local government
elections. I congratulate Ugandans for voting their leaders peacefully. I
also congratulate leaders who were elected. I call upon them to stay in
touch with their communities as they will achieve alot when they work
together.
At the beginning of this term of office, 2016-2021, I issued 23
guidelines/directives to government and so far in six months, the following
have been achieved
Finalized a plan for re-establishing the National Carrier (Uganda Airlines).
This will reduce on the financial haemorrhage (donation) to other
airlines by Ugandans and those travelling to Uganda.
Investment Climate Advisory and Management Ministry of Finance has
allocated Shs. 410 million to generating the statistical data for investors
who wish to invest in the country. Availability of ready information will
quicken decision making by investors.
Construction of more than 100 water schemes across the country in some
of the following areas: Bukwo GFS; Bukedea, Parombo, Akoro, Olirim II,
Bududa

II,

Bukwo

II,

Shuuku-Matsyoro

GFS,

Ogili

GFS,

Kiboga,

Ruti/Rugando, Loro, Padibe, Pabbo, Rwashamaire TC, Nyamunuka TC,

Amudat, Bibia/Elegu, Ovujo, Oyam, Nyahuka, Kasagama and Kaliiro, etc.

Provision of Water for Production: Expansion of Mubuku, Kibiimba and

Doha schemes, completion of Kaharo gravity water scheme in Kabale.
The following are planned: Andibo dam in Nebbi district, Rwengaaju
irrigation scheme in Kabarole district, Ongole dam in Katakwi, Mabira dam
in Mbarara, Olweny irrigation scheme in Lira district and Leyedam in Kole
district and a number of small min-irrigation schemes will soon be under
way to mitigate the current pattern of rainfall and stop depending on
nature but use irrigation system.

In order not to continue being

dependent on nature, we are going to start with more irrigation schemes

around mountain Rwenzori, Mt. Elgon and the Agoro hills. These are
easier because we use gravity on account of the good gradient and just
channel the water to the required points. With regard to the low-lands, we
are encouraging the manufacture within country or, at least, assembling
within country of affordable solar-powered water pumps.

I call upon

individuals who have means to equip their farms with these pumps at
their cost.

Uganda Development Bank (UDB) should look into the

possibility of using the money we give them to fund such acquisitions with
low interest loans; may be 12% per annum or there about.

Using

government money, we shall slowly start equipping villages with

communal solar-powered water pumps.

We have, indeed, already

started. There are already solar powered water pumps at Kandago in

Rukiga, Nyadri in Maracha, Kololo in Adjumani, Inomo in Apac, Kabira in
Rakai, Kibenyeya in Hoima, etc. These will be scaled up from being only
water for consumption to irrigation this coming financial year (2017/18).
130 new water irrigation schemes are planned for FY 2017/18, across the
country.
This is in order to immunize ourselves against the erraticness of the rains.
This effort of irrigation, must, however, go hand in hand with the wetlands
preservation and restoration as well as protecting all our fresh water
bodies (Lakes and rivers). Where will, then, the water come from if we do
not protect the water bodies?

Granting Oil Production Licenses:

Eight (8) production licenses were granted in August and these include:
Mputa-Nzizi-Waraga, Kasamene-Wairindi, Kogogole-Ngara, Nsoga, Ngege
fields operated by Tullow, Gunya, Ngiri, Jobi-Rii operated by Total.
Introduction of biometric registration of all small scale miners;
Allocating location licenses to small scale miners;
Expand the licensing regime that will streamline the small scale miners
and the heavy investors in the mineral sector.
Government is in talks with the financiers of Bujagali to bring down the
cost of power to affordable rates for industries. The other dams do not
have that problem. The power from Nalubaale power station is now at
1.04US Cents, since the loan for constructing Nalubaale power station has
been fully paid back. That of Bujagali is at 11US cents.
Right now, we, actually, have a surplus of electricity and we are building
more dams as you know. Our plan is to build more and more dams, not
only on all the sites on the Nile River (Ayago-840MW, Oriang-392MW,
Uhuru-400MW, Kiba- 300MW etc.) but also to develop over 40 mini-hydro
dams, already identified across the country. Some of them are already
under construction. These are: Nyagak III 5.4MW, Nyamwamba 9MW,
Muvumba 5.4MW, Achwa/Agago 83MW, etc.
With abundant and cheaper power, our pace of industrialization will pick
up. We are going to provide electricity at the cost of 5 American cents per
unit to manufacturers. More electricity and better network of roads will
mean faster industrialization. As projected by the National Planning
Authority (NPA), the middle income status will be attained by 2020.

I have told you before, how Uganda was bleeding on account of

unnecessary and excessive importing (buying-kugula) and very little
selling (kutuunda). What are called rich people in Uganda, specialize,
not in building factories or hotels, but, in building shopping arcades that
specialize in selling to our people all sorts of imported goods. As a
consequence of this, Uganda donates to China US$ 875 million per year,
to India US$1.154 billion per year, to EU US$637 million per year, to USA
US$ 89 million per year, to South Africa US$ 257 million per year, to UAE
US$406 million per year, etc. Yet our own exports to China are only
US$54.7 million per year, to India only 24.8 million per year, to South
Africa only US$4.7 million per year, to UAE only US$62.6 million per year.
It is only to the EU that we export US$433 million per year and to the
COMESA-EAC that we exported goods and services worth of US$2 billion
(in 2015). In this hemorrhage, textiles take US$888 million per year, cars
US$568.7 million per year, leather goods US$0.22 million per year,alcohol
and beverages took US$ 68 million (2015),foods and food extracts took
US$612 million (2015). This is not only hemorrhage of money but also of
jobs. Building up our textile industry, which we have already started on in
modest ways, would not only save the US$888 million in imports but
would also create for us a total of 45,000 jobs from about25- 30
factories,each the size of Nytil, fully operational.As a result, KACITA group
was sent to Ethiopia by me to study and came back converted. They are
now ready to work with government in establishing factories for exports
instead of imports.
Industrialization is, therefore, both an instrument of liberation and a
means of achieving prosperity. Additionally, using our comparative
advantages, we would also export to other countries, thereby earning
even more money and creating even more jobs. We cannot blame our
importers.

Until recently, the basics that are needed to support

manufacturing were not in place. Today some of them are: electricity,

better roads, a more educated workforce, etc. It is time to, therefore,
launch a massive effort for industrialization

Fast tracking of Standard Gauge Railway to reduce the cost of transport.

As you know, we are working with our relatives in Kenya to modernize the
railway by building the Standard Gauge Railway.
This will bring the cost of transport for a 32 metric tonnes container to
Mombasa from US dollars 3500 by road, to US dollars 1650 by railway and
it will only take one day compared to the present railway which takes 21
days. It will also save our roads from damage caused by the huge lorries
carrying what should be ferried by the train.
This is all to do with manufacturing.

As I repeatedly tell you,

manufacturing is one of the four sectors that comprise our economy. The
other three are: agriculture, services and ICT.

Peace, electricity and

improved road network are stimulating the process of manufacturing. The

same stimuli influence services to some extent. Agriculture is, of course,
linked to industry through agro-processing.
However, the biggest challenge we have in agriculture is cultural and
historical. According to the census of both 2001 and 2014, about 68% of
our homesteads are still in subsistence agriculture (only working for food
but not working for money). Only 32% of the homesteads are in the
money economy. Through Operation Wealth Creation, we are determined
to change this. Coffee, fruit and/or tea seedlings are being given to all the
homesteads with land of two acres and above. Our ideal model, as you
know, is four acres.
Two acres, however, can also do something. In some areas, they grow
cocoa. Each home must have, at least, one acre of food crops especially,
drought resistant crops (cassava, bananas, Irish potatoes, rice etc). As far
as coffee is concerned, a tissue culture laboratory is going to be built at
Kituuza so that we can multiply high quality, disease-free seedlings
industrially and quickly.

OWC has been stopped from being everywhere and ending up being
nowhere.
We are concentrating on, initially, the four cash-crops coffee, cocoa,
fruits and tea. As time goes on, we shall get them to distribute chicken,
dairy cattle and pigs. The homesteads with one acre or less, will be
helped with poultry for eggs, mushroom growing, onions, pigs and zerograzing dairy cattle.

Every homestead must be involved in money

making. We cannot accept spectators in this effort. Maintaining 68% of

our homesteads in pre-capitalist modes of production is a wrong form of
conservation. Let us conserve other assets such as wetlands, forests,
national parks, etc., but not under development.
The services sector is growing very well spurred on by peace and better
roads. It is growing at the rate of 5.3% per annum.

Especially for

tourism, what is nowlacking is publicity.

The Tourism Board will aggressively inform the world about our unique
climate as well as flora and fauna. Services money is easy money for us,
especially tourism.
The ICT sector has been facilitated by the building of the ICT backbone
and the undersea cables to Kenya and Tanzania.

This has lowered the

cost of internet bandwidth from US$1,200 per month to US$ 300 per
month and is expected to reduce further to US$150 per month within the
next 12 months.
Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) should, therefore, use this new
capacity to attract new investors in this sector.
With our brothers and sisters in Africa, through EAC and COMESA, we have
already built regional markets for our producers. They can export to the
region. We have also negotiated for external markets such as AGOA, EBA,
the access to the Chinese and the Indian markets, etc.

All these efforts will translate into more jobs for our youth. Uganda already
has 3,100 factories and 3,475 tourism related companies and assets. The
two are already employing about 1.1 million people.
This has been achieved in spite of the bottlenecks of lack of electricity and
high transport costs in the past. Now that we are addressing the issues of
electricity and transport costs, our progress will be faster.
Conclusion
Uganda has been at peace for the first time in 500 years, for many years
now. Uganda will remain at peace. Nobody has the capacity to disturb
this, however hard they might try. Therefore, my dear Ugandans, I can
confidently tell you that the future is bright.
If we love one another, celebrate our diversity, resist division and stay
united, we will achieve greatness. Let us all join hands and declare the
New Year to be our year of prosperity. The year of building on the strong
foundation we have laid to secure Uganda's future.
I wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year Two Thousand and
Seventeen.

Date:
Saturday, December 31, 2016