Museveni blasts Andrew Mwenda for calling him senile

“Mr. Mwenda, thank you for declaring me senile and incapable of judging right” are the first words you see in the letter from President Museveni to Andrew Mwenda on X. President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has released a scathing, extensive point-by-point defense of his administration’s industrialization policy, directly responding to recent criticisms authored by veteran journalist and intellectual Andrew Mwenda. Read the full letter here.

Mr. Mwenda, thank you for declaring me senile and incapable of judging right. You will, however, discover that at 82, I am still able to defend Uganda and myself with the Bible, the AK-47 and the pen.

You are supposed to be a journalist. Why do you not interview these “conmen” such as Magoola, Senfuka, etc.? They are here in Uganda. They are where you can reach them and even the assets they have put on the ground. Visit Magoola’s factories in Matugga and Kamuli. Interview People who testify that they were cured by Senfuka’s mixture of herbs. Visit Tugume’s factory in Ntungamo. Visit Professor Muranga’s banana project in Bushenyi.

You are ashamed and you dare not talk about the Kiira Motors because that is a shamer of the neo-colonial agents like Mwenda. The Do-nothingers like Andrew Mwenda, always running around noisily telling lies, claim to save government money from loss-making projects. Yet, they happily cohabit peacefully and gleefully with the neo-colonial status quo of confining Africa to producing and exporting unprocessed raw-materials where we lose so much value.

The other day I gave the example of Gold where the parasites that abound in Africa export gold at 84% purity and get USD 60,000. A Kilogram of fully refined gold of the purity of 99.9% goes for USD 168,000. How much loss is that? A kilogram of processed coffee, goes for USD 25 to USD 40 depending on the brands and yet for raw materials we get USD 2.5 per kilogram.

The Stubborn old man of Uganda who is senile, banned the export of all unprocessed minerals. There are now 10 gold refineries in Uganda. The gold exports from Uganda have now hit USD 7.48 billion. The great Mwenda is talking about small capital for small holders. Does this great Andrew Mwenda live in Uganda? Have you heard of PDM and the other funds?

If you are a patriot, why do you not participate in making them work? Where they have been implemented, they do wonders. What caused the boom of coffee from 3 million bags to now 8.8 million bags bringing into the country USD 2.4billion? As a freedom fighter, I am always stubbornly standing for patriotism, Pan-Africanism, social-economic transformation and Democracy. I am never swayed by traitors and foreign agents. That is how we overcome all the challenges.

What could be the real motive of Andrew Mwenda of externalizing in the social-media our internal discussions, including the Cabinet? It is to scare away our partners because the likes of Andrew Mwenda are worried by the success of Uganda’s economy, now growing at 6.3% per annum.

This is not the first time Mwenda has done it. He was part of those that caused load-shedding in Uganda in 2005 and onwards, having sabotaged our partnership with AES (American Energy Service) in the year 2003 on the Bujagali Electricity Project where they were going to produce electricity at US cents 4.9 per Khwr. Ebikokorimo by’enkoko, tebitta Kamunye- the curses of the chicken do not kill the kite. Ugandans, ignore the likes of Andrew Mwenda. They are always trying to sabotage our growth and transformation.

The growth of the commercial dairy industry in the cattle corridor boosting milk-production from 200 million litres to 5.3 billion litres; the banana industry; the fruit industry in Teso, Luwero, Kayunga and Masaka; the Palm oil industry in Kalangala, Buvuma, Bundibugyo and Maruzi; the coffee industry already referred to; the steel industry; etc., are always opposed by the likes of Andrew Mwenda.

We have succeeded in spite of their sabotage. Even if we were to make a mistake in the effort to industrialize Uganda, achieve import-substitution and export promotion, it would be better than merely careening on in the neo-colonial doldrums.

We attacked Kabamba two times, not succeeding. On the third attempt, we had great success. Failure from which we learn lessons, is success. With the Banyankore, if a baby is learning how to walk and falling down, we encourage the baby saying: “Siinga abarezi, siinga abarezi, tengerera, tengerera.” We do not do what Mwenda is doing by saying: “The child will never stand.” You, then, become omwinazi (an ill-wisher).

Aluta Continua
Victory is certain.Signed: Yoweri K. Museveni, Ssaabalwanyi.

Responding to public insinuations regarding his capacity and age, the 82-year-old head of state initiated his defense by stating that he remains fully equipped to defend the sovereignty and developmental choices of Uganda utilizing three distinct instruments: the Bible, the AK-47, and the pen.

The President’s detailed statement moves beyond simple political rhetoric, serving as a comprehensive manifesto on state-backed value addition, import substitution, and structural pan-Africanism, while aggressively labeling critics who oppose state-led industrial experiments as “Do-nothingers” and “neo-colonial agents” who cohabit gleefully with an exploitative global economic status quo.

How did the ideological clash between President Museveni and Andrew Mwenda over state-led industrialization erupt?

The intense intellectual standoff centers on the role of the state in capitalizing localized, high-risk industrial ventures. While neo-liberal economic commentators have continuously questioned the viability of government financial injections into private enterprises, President Museveni argues that the primary structural crisis facing the African continent is its confinement to the exportation of unprocessed raw materials.

The President maintains that critics like Andrew Mwenda noisily circulate falsehoods on digital media to save government funds from what they classify as loss-making projects, while ignoring the massive macroeconomic losses incurred by exporting raw components.

Also read about the sovereignty law

According to the President, true patriotism requires active participation in making domestic development frameworks work rather than externalizing internal state and Cabinet debates on social media to scare away strategic international partners. Museveni asserts that his administration’s economic blueprint has insulated the country from external shocks, sustaining an national economic growth rate of 6.3 percent per annum despite persistent structural resistance from internal skeptics.

What specific value-addition metrics did the President deploy to expose the pitfalls of exporting raw materials?

To demonstrate the mathematical reality of neo-colonial economic exploitation, the President outlined two detailed case studies tracing the pricing disparities between raw commodities and fully refined exports:

• The Microeconomics of Gold Refining: Museveni observed that historical parasites have long exploited Africa by exporting gold at a mere 84 percent purity, fetching a constrained market price of USD 60,000 per kilogram. Conversely, a single kilogram of fully refined gold possessing a purity threshold of 99.9 percent commands USD 168,000 on the international market. By permanently banning the export of all unprocessed minerals, the President revealed that Uganda has successfully established 10 operational gold refineries, driving the nation’s total gold export returns to an unprecedented USD 7.48 billion.
• The Global Coffee Value Chain: The Head of State highlighted a similar structural gap within the agricultural sector, noting that raw coffee beans exported from Africa return a mere USD 2.5 per kilogram to local farmers. Meanwhile, international brands process and retail the exact same coffee at a premium ranging from USD 25 to USD 40 per kilogram. By stubbornly enforcing state-backed value-addition frameworks, Museveni revealed that Uganda’s coffee output has experienced a massive boom, expanding from 3 million bags to 8.8 million bags, and delivering USD 2.4 billion into the national treasury.

How does the Ssaabalwanyi defend state-funded actors against accusations of running unviable enterprises?

Responding to criticisms regarding the concentration of state capital in specific local projects, the President challenged the media to move beyond desk-bound analysis and physically audit the industrial assets established on the ground. He defended localized innovations and indigenous enterprises against systemic elite skepticism, listing multiple strategic interventions:

• The Manufacturing Assets of Magoola: The President directed journalists to exit Kampala and inspect the physical industrial assets established at Magoola’s factories located in Matugga and Kamuli.
• The Botanical Exploits of Senfuka: Museveni openly validated indigenous scientific research, urging skeptics to interview ordinary citizens who formally testify to being cured of chronic illnesses by Senfuka’s specialized mixture of herbs.
• The Ntungamo Coffee Venture: He highlighted the strategic placement of Tugume’s coffee processing factory in Ntungamo as a direct weapon against raw bean exportation.
• The Bushenyi Banana Value-Addition Project: The Head of State defended the agricultural industrialization model spearheaded by Professor Muranga’s banana project in Bushenyi, which transforms raw matooke into processed, shelf-stable flour for international export.

Furthermore, the President heavily criticized media analysts for their deliberate silence regarding Kiira Motors, labeling the domestic electric vehicle manufacturing initiative a profound “shamer” of neo-colonial agents who prefer that Africa remain a passive consumer of Western automotive hardware. He dismissed criticisms concerning “small capital for smallholders” by pointing to massive decentralized grassroots funds like the Parish Development Model (PDM), which are designed to systematically transition subsistence households into the commercial economy.

What historic role does the President attribute to media critics regarding Uganda’s energy and industrial bottlenecks?

The President argued that the current wave of economic critique is part of a historical pattern of media-led industrial sabotage. He directly accused past intellectual lobbies of engineering the severe energy crises and load-shedding protocols that crippled Uganda’s manufacturing sector from the year 2005 and onwards.

According to historical records cited by the Head of State, these intellectual circles successfully sabotaged a critical state partnership with AES (American Energy Service) in the year 2003 on the Bujagali Electricity Project. The original contract was engineered to produce immediate industrial electricity at an ultra-low tariff of US cents 4.9 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).

Dismissing the historical and ongoing resistance of these critical blocks, Museveni deployed a defensive cultural proverb: “Ebikokorimo by’enkoko, tebitta Kamunye”—meaning that the curses of the chicken do not possess the spiritual or physical capacity to kill the kite. He listed an array of macroeconomic expansions achieved in direct defiance of external and internal opposition:

• The Livestock Revolution: The commercial dairy industry within the cattle corridor has scaled milk production from a baseline of 200 million liters to 5.3 billion liters.
• Agrarian Specialization Hubs: The expansion of the banana industry alongside structured fruit processing grids across Teso, Luwero, Kayunga, and Masaka.
• The Palm Oil Conglomerates: The systematic establishment of domestic palm oil plantations and milling facilities across Kalangala, Buvuma, Bundibugyo, and Maruzi.
• Heavy Heavy Industrialization: The parallel scaling of the domestic steel industry to drive local infrastructure construction independent of high-cost foreign imports.

Why does the President view institutional failure and cultural encouragement as critical steps toward macroeconomic transformation?

To contextualize the operational risks associated with building a modern industrial economy from scratch, the President pulled a direct parallel from the history of the liberation struggle. He recalled that the National Resistance Army (NRA) launched two separate armed assaults against the military installation at Kabamba without achieving immediate success. It was only on the third tactical attempt that the liberation forces secured victory.

“Failure from which we learn lessons, is success,” the Ssaabalwanyi maintained, arguing that even if the state makes an occasional mistake in its aggressive pursuit of import substitution and export promotion, it remains infinitely superior to careening passively in the neo-colonial doldrums of economic dependency.

To illustrate the psychological difference between constructive critique and malicious opposition, Museveni shared a traditional Banyankore cultural metaphor describing a infant learning to navigate its environment. When a baby is learning to walk and repeatedly falls, the parents do not declare that the child is permanently incapacitated. Instead, the community gathers around to cheer, chant, and encourage the infant, saying: “Siinga abarezi, siinga abarezi, tengerera, tengerera”—commanding the child to stabilize, stand firm, and walk tall.

The President concluded that individuals who adopt the alternative approach of continuously declaring that national industries will never stand choose to abandon the role of a constructive citizen, becoming instead an omwinazi—an institutional ill-wisher. Reaffirming his lifelong ideological commitment to patriotism, Pan-Africanism, socio-economic transformation, and absolute Democracy, the Ssaabalwanyi signed off his national directive with the timeless revolutionary commands: Aluta Continua—the struggle continues, and victory is structurally certain.