Africa-Press – Uganda. Former presidential candidate and preacher Joseph Kabuleta has said Uganda’s ambitious economic transformation plans will falter unless the country aligns itself with Israel.
Speaking on Saturday at the return of his annual Watchers Conference in Nsambya, Kabuleta said that both prosperity and divine judgment are determined by how nations relate to the State of Israel, referencing Biblical prophecy to make his case.
“You have heard that in the 1960s and early 70s, Uganda’s economy was bigger than South Korea’s,” he said.
“Do you know when this changed? That was in 1972 when Idi Amin chased the Israelis from here and closed their embassy. That was the beginning of the descent for Uganda.”
The former journalist and leader of the National Economic Empowerment Dialogue (NEED) dismissed conventional explanations for Uganda’s economic decline, instead attributing the downturn to what he called the spiritual consequences of expelling Israelis during the Amin regime.
Kabuleta’s comments come as Uganda rolls out its Tenfold Growth Strategy, an ambitious plan to grow the national economy to $500 billion through foreign investment, industrialization, and structural reforms.
But Kabuleta argued that such plans are “doomed to struggle” if Uganda’s foreign policy does not align with what he described as “divine order.”
Quoting from the Book of Joel, he said, “Every nation on earth is judged by the way they treat Israel,” adding that spiritual favor plays a decisive role in national prosperity.
The conference, which attracted hundreds of followers after a two-year hiatus, also became a platform for Kabuleta to criticize global institutions such as the United Nations, which he accused of “hostility toward Israel.”
He cited the recent incident in which Uganda’s representatives joined other delegations in walking out of the UN General Assembly during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address.
Kabuleta went further to draw historical parallels, claiming that Britain’s global influence crumbled after it opposed the establishment of Israel as a nation.
“The British were in charge of that area in Palestine and did everything to ensure Israel did not get their land back,” he said.
“But when Israel became a nation in 1948, Britain lost its empire without losing a war. Today the UK is almost becoming a Third World country.”
Turning to the Israel-Palestine conflict, Kabuleta dismissed international criticism of Israel as “rubbish,” saying that God’s justice is revealed over time.
His remarks come amid renewed tensions in the Middle East, where efforts such as the Abraham Accords—brokered under former US President Donald Trump—sought to normalize relations between Israel and several Arab states but left the core territorial dispute unresolved.
Kabuleta concluded by expressing disappointment that Israel recently opened a new embassy in Zambia instead of Uganda.
“I was shocked,” he said, adding that he hopes to see an Israeli embassy reopened in Kampala soon.
The Watchers Conference, returning after a break in 2022, continues to hold weekly end-time fellowships every Friday at the Watchman Grounds in Nsambya.
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