MUSEVENI on Geopolitics, Regional Integration and National Interests

7/26/2019 MUSEVENI on Geopolitics, Regional Integration and National Interests

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Speech

By

H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni

Chairman NRM and President of the Republic of Uganda

Theme: GEO-POLITICS, REGIONAL INTEGRATION AND

NATIONAL INTERESTS

15th March, 2016 - Kyankwanzi

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Principle number two of the NRM is Pan-Africanism. Like all

the other three principles of the NRM, Pan-Africanism is for the

benefit of the Ugandan people as well as our brothers andsisters in Africa. Pan-Africanism, in particular, addresses two

needs of our people, first and foremost. These are: prosperity

of our people in a modern context and strategic security

against all potential imperialists.

Prosperity, in a modern context revolves around the production

of goods and services in order to earn incomes, create jobs for

our people and expand the tax base.

In order to expand production, demand is very decisive. The

more buyers that buy what you produce, the more prosperous

your business and the whole country will become. When

somebody buys what you produce, he is supporting your

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prosperity your income, jobs for your people and he is helping ─

you to expand your tax base so that you support the welfare of

your people better (schools, health services, infrastructure,

pensions, etc).

Colonialism fragmented the African market. Prior to

colonialism, there was a market of this area stretching all the

way from Zanzibar to the River Congo at Nyangwe and up to

Juba (Gondokoro). It was not a common market because some

of the chiefs were quite extortionist. Others like Rumanyika of

Karagwe were very benevolent and were assistive to the traders.

The market, therefore, was not common but it was a market.

Colonialism, however, totally fragmented this market. Congo

went to the Belgians as did Rwanda and Burundi. South

Sudan went to the Arabs. We only remained with Kenya,

Tanganyika and Zanzibar. Since Independence, we have been

re-assembling the market. Under COMESA, I am happy to

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report, the old East African market is not only re-assembled

but it is now a Common Market (no taxes in it or reducing

them) and also expanded. The members of COMESA are:

Burundi, Comoros, DR Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea,

Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius,

Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and

Zimbabwe.

These countries have got a combined population of 470 million

of people. This is a good destination for our goods and

services. It is already saving some industries that could not

survive and grow without this market. I can give two examples:

Maize and milk. By 1986, we were producing only 200,000

tonnes of maize per annum. We are now producing 4 million

tonnes of maize per annum but only consuming 1 million. The

surplus 3 million tonnes are absorbed by the EAC and

COMESA. The same story with milk. By 1986, we were

producing only 200 million litres of milk per annum. We are

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now producing 2 billion litres of milk per annum but Uganda

only consumes 800 million litres per annum. Where does the

rest go? It is absorbed by COMESA, by the EAC and the rest of

the world. Otherwise, we would, by now, have suffered from

over production of these products and the prices would have

collapsed. This market is now being expanded to include SADC

(Southern Africa) under the Tripartite arrangement involving

EAC, COMESA and SADC. This will have a combined

population of about 632 million people and a GDP of US$ 1.3

trillion.

The pulling of our markets does not only provide us with a

bigger market for our goods and services. It also enables us to

better negotiate for market access to other foreign markets e.g.

USA, EU, China, India, Japan, Russia, the Gulf, etc. This is

where the future of our prosperity lies. I normally tell you of

the Runyankore proverb that applies to this case. It says:“Ija

turye kumwe, biri aine eki akurebireho” “The one who invites ─

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you for a meal expects something in return”. The foreign

countries will allow us to access their markets sustainably

because they see that we have our own big market to offer

them in return. Our own big market, enables us to negotiate

for other big markets. Therefore, regional and continental

integration is necessary for our Prosperity.

Apart from Prosperity, regional integration, especially for the

EAC, is crucial because of our strategic security and survival

as a free people. During the school debate in which I

participated with the other presidential candidates on the 13th

of February, 2016, I pointed out how the Americans are

“aiming at what they call four dimensional superiority” whereby

they will be superior on land, in the air (air-force), at sea (the

navy) and in space (satellites and rockets). The question is:

“How do we guard ourselves against such hegemonism?” Can

Uganda, alone, even if we become a First World country by

2050, guard herself against such hegemonism? In the second

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World War, some of the developed countries such as France,

Holland, Belgium, Denmark or Norway were the first victims of

German aggression. Apart from economic integration, we,

therefore, need to have political integration wherever possible.

Political integration is possible where the populations are either

similar, linked or compatible. Where there is incompatibility,

political integration should not be attempted. We believe and

know that the East African Federation is possible and it would

create a centre of gravity for the Black race. Who is the

guarantor of the freedom of the Black race currently? I cannot

see anybody today. That is why Africa is being tossed around

by some actors. EAC, in its present state, is about the size of

India in land area with a population of 160 million people.

This is a good nucleus for a very powerful, in global terms,

African State that would be the centre of gravity of the African

people’s destiny as free peoples.

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The conflicts that went on in Uganda, Congo-Kinshasha, South

Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi etc., although not planned, ended up

getting rid of the quisling of foreign interests and creating

conditions for Afro-centred thinking in these countries in

addition to the original EAC states of Tanzania and Kenya. It is

a great opportunity for the African people to have this

phenomenon.

Therefore, the geo-politics of this area revolves around the

three elements: prosperity for our people, strategic security for

our people and enhanced international credibility for the

African peoples. There are, however, some diversionary issues

being pushed by people that need more information. You hear

of the problems of landlocked countries or the problem of the

Nile River waters. These are non-issues. The Coastal States

benefit as much as the hinterland States by operating efficient

Ports. Goods that come through the Ports create wealth for the

coastal States as much as they are the wealth of the hinterland

States. The threat to the Nile waters is lack of electricity in the

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Tropics and lack of industrialization. It is the lack of these two

phenomena that causes the populations in the Tropics to cut

forests for fire wood and invade forests and wetlands looking for

more agricultural land to under-utilize using primitive

agriculture. Electrification and industrialization in the Tropics

would enhance the waters of the Nile rather than diminish that

precious resource. In any case, the 85 billion cubic metres of

the Nile water per annum is nothing to speak about compared

to the 3000 billion Cubic metres of water of the Congo River. If

this area is saved from the fatricidal conflicts in the Sudan and

the Congo, the peoples of this area could have a rational

discussion about the future of our dear continent including the

optimal use of these natural and human resources. Human

resources are, sometimes, more important than natural

resources. The big population of Egypt (88.8 million) and

Ethiopia (101 million) is very beneficial for the whole of Africa

as consumers and producers, including being producers of the

products of the intellect (engineering, manufacturing, etc.).

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There is alot of potential complementarity between the products

of a developed Tropics and North Africa (food, textiles, leather,

forest products, steel, electrical equipment, engineering

products, etc.), on the one hand and products of the intellect

on the other hand.

Some of the most prosperous countries in the world, do not

have natural resources China, Japan, South Korea, etc. The ─

human resource is itself a great resource (as consumers and

producers). Africa is lucky to have both the human and the

natural resources. Let us know how to use them optimally.

I thank you.

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15th March, 2016 - Kyankwanzi

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MUSEVENI on Geopolitics, Regional Integration and National Interests