President Yoweri Museveni has placed his hope in the anticipated oil revenue to boost the economy through building critical infrastructure.
In a speech to Parliament following the presentation of the National Budget to Parliament for Financial Year 2026/2027, the first in the five-year term his ruling National Resistance Movement party recently secured, President Museveni said it is in the country’s strategic interest not to squander the anticipated oil revenue.
“With the oil money, an extra $1.5 billion per year as the government’s share of oil revenue, I will discuss with you how to use this money; to create some sovereign fund instead of using the money to buy perfumes, whiskeys,” he said at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds.
The money, said President Museveni, is for mega infrastructure projects to provide a basis for economic transformation.
“We need to use some of that money to do critical infrastructure like the railway,” he said, with an ambitious commencement of commercial production date anticipated within the second half of 2026.
The President spoke to the ebola epidemic, signalling the country has seen the worst of the disease, with no new infections in the last five days, urging cautious optimism and continuous adherence to the guidelines established by the Ministry of Health.
“It is very easy to avoid Ebola, and even when you get infected and report early, if you control the temperature, rehydrate when you sweat and vomit, you will recover,” he said, warning against shaking hands and hugging, practices he said predisposes people to catching the disease.
He announced an ongoing collaboration between Uganda and the Congolese authorities, which saw the establishment of treatment points on the DRC side of the border, to treat the sick and buffer the country from infected illegal immigrants using the porous border points to spread the disease.
The President took a firm stance against corruption, enlisting the support of MPs to fight the vice, aligning with Speaker Jacob Marksons Oboth’s earlier declaration to support anti-corruption agencies in keeping public funds safe from embezzlement.
