Africa-Press – Uganda. President Museveni has urged Ugandans to harness the country’s stability and improved infrastructure to create wealth and jobs, saying cooperatives remain central to achieving inclusive economic growth.
Delivering Museveni’s remarks at the National Cooperative Conference on Thursday, Trade and Cooperatives Minister Francis Mwebesa said the National Resistance Movement (NRM) government has since 1986 focused on empowering producers and consumers, the “two major players” in economic transformation.
“The NRM government has transformed Uganda from the state of anarchy and lawlessness into a land of peace and stability. Without peace and security, individuals, families and companies cannot prosper,” Museveni said.
He noted that while 67 percent of Ugandan households now participate in the money economy, 33 percent remain stuck in subsistence farming.
Government is prioritising wealth creation in four key sectors: commercial agriculture, industries, services and ICT.
Museveni pointed to the Parish Development Model (PDM) and Emyooga as interventions that have enabled many Ugandans to become “wealth creators,” but cautioned that Uganda’s domestic market of 46 million people is too small to sustain growing production.
“With just a little waking up, we are already producing surpluses of milk, sugar and other commodities. That is why government emphasises Pan-Africanism. Individually, the 54 African states have small markets, but together Africa has a market of 1.4 billion people. Uganda must take advantage of this for greater prosperity,” he said.
The President praised the cooperative movement for expanding from 5,451 registered societies in 1986 to 46,406 today, covering agriculture, transport, housing, fisheries, energy, and savings and credit.
“Ugandans are embracing the idea of forming and sustaining cooperatives so as to reap economic and social benefits. The development of a cooperative culture is a hallmark of a modern and specialised society,” Museveni said, pledging government’s continued support through favorable legislation and an enabling environment.
At the gathering, Uganda Cooperative Alliance (UCA) board chairman John Tweyamba said the 2020 amendment of the Cooperative Societies Act had strengthened the regulation of Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (SACCOs) and boosted resilience.
“The amendment gave our cooperatives a stronger legal framework and made them safer for members,” Tweyamba said. “But to consolidate these gains, we need more support from government to address funding shortfalls and streamline regulation.”
UCA leaders also highlighted corporate social responsibility efforts, including mobilising 1,700 units of blood during this year’s Cooperative Day celebrations and planting more than 10,000 trees for environmental conservation. Tweyamba said cooperatives now employ more than 200,000 Ugandans.
“We are addressing the challenge of unemployment using the power of cooperation,” he added.
Despite these gains, Tweyamba raised concern over corruption in some unions, citing cases where cooperative assets have been diverted or sold without members’ consent.
He also urged better facilitation of District Cooperative Officers (DCOs), who he said are underfunded despite their critical role at the grassroots.
“Our DCOs have not been fully facilitated because of budget constraints. If government prioritizes them, the value they add on the ground will be immense,” he said.
The UCA reiterated its long-standing demand for a single cooperative law and regulator to unify oversight. “What we need now is a single law and a single regulator,” Tweyamba stressed, warning that fragmented regulation undermines sector efficiency.
The meeting, attended by senior cooperative leaders and former chairpersons, also thanked President Museveni for creating what they described as a conducive environment for cooperatives, including recent tax waivers.
Tweyamba said the Alliance will formally submit its requests for funding and a unified law through the Minister of Cooperatives, who pledged to present them to the President for consideration.
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