President Museveni has called for discipline in the speakership race, noting it should not be about lobbying or campaigning.
Speaking to the NRM caucus meeting at State House Entebbe following the endorsement of Jacob Oboth Oboth and Thomas Tayebwa as the party's candidates for the speaker and deputy speaker positions ahead of today's vote, Museveni said the emphasis should be on discipline, experience and collective interests.
When we were fighting, people did not express interest by saying they wanted to fight. You went where you were told to go. Today, because there is peace, many people are expressing interest in contesting for positions. Democracy is good, but we should be disciplined," Museveni said.
"Speakership should be consensus. It should not be by voting, lobbying or mobilising."
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Drawing from his 65 years of involvement in Uganda's politics, Museveni said the country's past mistakes stemmed from leaders pursuing "wrong politics" based on tribe, religion, and gender divisions instead of addressing the actual needs of society.
"Politics is what is to be done, why and how.You start with the diagnosis of the society you are leading and find out the problems they have and participate in designing the cure," he said.
The President reminded MPs that the National Resistance Movement (NRM) has already diagnosed Uganda's key challenges and designed solutions. According to him, the greatest problem facing the country today is household poverty, not a lack of opportunities.
"What we are deciding now is who.The mistake is many people spend their time on who and not the what. You can't get proper leaders if you don't first understand the what, why and how."
Museveni urged MPs to return to their constituencies and mobilize wananchi around government wealth-creation programmes instead of spending time on endless political arguments in Kampala.
"Your mandate is not in India or China but wherever you come from," he emphasized. "Go back to your villages."
The President advocated for commercial agriculture as the foundation for wealth creation and employment, especially in rural Uganda.
He argued that Uganda is naturally blessed and should not have young people migrating abroad in search of work.
"I feel disgusted seeing people going to look for jobs in a desert in Dubai," Museveni said. "You leave the Garden of Eden to go to the desert to look for jobs. How do you leave heaven here to look for jobs in a desert? It means there is a problem with us."
To illustrate his point, Museveni cited businessman Nyakaana, whom he said earns Shs55 million net per month from egg production alone and employs 26 people.
"These are educated people," he noted, adding that Uganda's problem is not lack of jobs but what he termed as "sleeping" among citizens who have failed to exploit available opportunities.
The President advised leaders from regions such as Busoga, Bukedi, Teso, parts of Lango, and Central Uganda to rethink unproductive farming methods and instead embrace more profitable ventures like fish farming and modern commercial agriculture.
"The medicine is there. We have already identified it," Museveni said.
He also stressed that his concern was mainly for ordinary Ugandans and small-scale farmers rather than wealthy businessmen.
"I am a rich man and don't need anything from anybody," he said. "The big farmers are there with cows and sugarcane, but I am concerned more about the small-scale people."
Museveni cautioned MPs against misusing their salaries on handouts, warning that such practices would eventually trap them financially and politically.
"Don't use your salary money. Keep it for school fees for your children or else you will be confused," he advised.
The President further urged legislators to closely monitor government programmes such as Emyooga and ensure accountability in their constituencies.
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"In your constituency, find out how many artisan groups are there and how much money for Emyooga is there, who took how much and who has not paid back. If it is not enough, come and tell us and we add more money."
Beyond agriculture, Museveni pointed to artisanship, manufacturing, services, transport, hospitality, music, and ICT as key sectors capable of lifting Ugandans out of poverty and unemployment.
"As leaders, check your areas, get rid of poverty and unemployment using government resources.Don't just come here and have titles of Honourable, Right Honourable and Excellence when you solve no problems of society."
He rallied the legislators to use their positions to leave a meaningful legacy in Uganda's history by transforming communities through wealth creation and practical leadership.
"Print your names in the history of Uganda," Museveni said. "The answers are there."
