By Col (Rtd) Dr John Francis Ongia
Dear Godber,
Please find here my abridged version of the response to your question.
Once again thank you so much for your thoughtful response to my humble submission and for sharing the opinion by Mr Isaac Christopher Lubogo. I have taken time to carefully read through his reflections and, indeed, I appreciate the intellectual depth, concerns, and constitutional anxieties he raises regarding governance, merit, statecraft, and cabinet formation in Uganda.
However, as I write this back in clarification of my continued support for the new NRM Government and the leadership direction of HE Gen Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, my biggest question to Mr Lubogo’s school of thought is this:
What parameters exactly were used to certify the conclusion that Uganda’s governance system has collapsed under incompetence, patronage, and absence of merit despite the undeniable historical transformation Uganda has registered since 1986?
A fair analysis of governance must not only focus on philosophical criticism but must also honestly measure practical outcomes against historical realities.
When NRM took over power in 1986, Uganda was emerging from political instability, economic collapse, civil conflict, institutional breakdown, inflationary crisis, and near-total state dysfunction. The country had weak infrastructure, low school enrollment, poor healthcare systems, collapsed industries, limited electricity coverage, minimal telecommunications, and severe insecurity across several regions.
Today, whether one supports NRM or not, there are measurable and undeniable national achievements that cannot simply be dismissed as accidental or products of incompetence.
For example:
Uganda’s GDP was estimated at about USD 1.5 billion in 1986 but has now expanded to approximately USD 50 billion. (facebook.com)
Foreign exchange reserves which were critically low and unstable in the late 1980s have since grown into billions of dollars under a more stable financial and monetary framework managed by the Bank of Uganda. (Wikipedia)
In 1986, Uganda’s paved national road network was extremely limited, with many roads destroyed by war and neglect. Today, Uganda has thousands of kilometers of paved roads connecting almost all major districts and regional trade corridors.
Electricity generation capacity has expanded tremendously from a few hundred megawatts in the 1980s to well over 2,000 MW today through investments in dams and energy infrastructure.
Primary school enrollment in the mid-1980s stood at only a few million children, but following UPE and USE reforms, enrollment expanded massively to over 8 million learners in primary education alone over the years.
University education in 1986 was largely dominated by one major public university. Today Uganda has dozens of universities and tertiary institutions both public and private.
Coffee exports, which had drastically declined during the years of instability, have grown significantly. Uganda was exporting roughly 2–3 million bags annually in earlier years but now exports exceed 8 million bags annually with export earnings surpassing USD 1.7 billion in recent periods. (Wikipedia)
Uganda’s economy has maintained average growth rates of over 6% for many years during the NRM era. (Uganda Investment Authority -)
Agriculture which contributed about 56% of GDP in 1986 has now evolved into a more diversified economy with growth in services, manufacturing, telecommunications, banking, and digital systems. (Wikipedia)
Uganda has built major digital governance systems including:
IFMS
URA eTax
EFRIS
NIRA
eGP
UGHub interoperability systems
National CCTV systems
Electronic passport systems
National Data Centers
Telecommunications have expanded from almost nonexistent national connectivity in 1986 to millions of Ugandans now accessing mobile phones, internet services, mobile money, and digital financial systems.
Regional peacekeeping and military professionalization have elevated Uganda into one of the most influential security actors in the region.
Certainly, Uganda still has serious governance challenges:
corruption,
unemployment,
bureaucracy,
inequality,
service delivery gaps,
and concerns about meritocracy.
No serious person should deny those realities.
But it would equally be intellectually unfair to ignore the enormous state-building and socio-economic transformation that has occurred under the same leadership being criticized.
The question therefore should not merely be:“Is there imperfection within the system?”
Every country has imperfections.
The more strategic question should be:“How does Uganda preserve stability and historical gains while continuously improving merit, accountability, innovation, institutional performance, and leadership renewal?”
In my humble view, HE Museveni’s strength has never only been about individual appointments. His strength has largely been his ability to maintain national cohesion, strategic direction, and state continuity during extremely difficult regional and global conditions.
Governance, especially in developing states, is not always a simple laboratory of textbook perfection. It often involves balancing:
stability,
political inclusion,
security,
institutional memory,
generational transition,
regional representation,
ideological discipline,
and technical competence simultaneously.
That balancing process may not always satisfy every intellectual observer, but neither can its historical outcomes be ignored.
I also respectfully disagree with the assumption that Uganda completely abandoned merit. Many highly competent technocrats, economists, military strategists, scientists, doctors, engineers, and administrators continue serving within Government structures today.
In fact, Uganda is increasingly entering a highly technical governance phase involving:
Artificial Intelligence,
Blockchain systems,
Digital Governance,
Cybersecurity,
Industrialization,
Oil and Gas,
Smart Agriculture,
and National Interoperability Systems.
This alone will naturally force deeper integration of technocratic competence into governance systems going forward.
Most importantly, criticism of Government should not only diagnose weaknesses. It should also appreciate historical context, acknowledge progress, and provide practical pathways for national improvement without unintentionally undermining public confidence in the State itself.
Uganda still has work to do. A lot of work indeed.
But I personally remain optimistic that under the current strategic direction, coupled with reforms in digital governance, industrialization, interoperability systems, and institutional coordination, Uganda has a real opportunity to leapfrog into a modern productive economy capable of attaining the 10-Fold Economic Growth agenda.
That is why I continue supporting constructive engagement, policy refinement, institutional strengthening, and national unity rather than total pessimism about the State itself.
Warm regards and Eid Mubarak once again my brother.
Col (Rtd) Dr John Francis Ongia.
Senior Liasion Officer UDC
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