KAMPALA. President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tuesday sworn-in as the new President of the Republic of Uganda extending his rule to 45 years .
This is President Museveni’s seventh term in office after winning the January 15th, 2026, Presidential elections.
The ceremony held at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds attracted several Heads of State, heads of delegations, among other distinguished guests and it ran under the theme: “Protecting the Gains as we make a qualitative Leap into Higher Middle Income Status”.
On behalf of the Independent Electoral Commission, the body Chairperson Justice Simon Byabakama introduced the President-elect as H.E Museveni, the one who out of the eight candidates, the people of Uganda preferred and voted overwhelmingly to lead the country for the next five years [2026-2031].
The oath of Allegiance and Presidency was administered by the Chief Justice of Uganda, His Lordship, Flavian Zeija, in company of the Chief Registrar and the Head of Public Service and Secretary to Cabinet.
“I Yoweri Tibuhaburwa Kaguta Museveni swear in the name of the Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear allegiance to the Republic of Uganda and that I will preserve, protect and defend the constitution. So, help in God,” President Museveni swore.
“I Yoweri Tibuhaburwa Kaguta Museveni swear in the name of the almighty God that I shall faithfully exercise the functions of the President of Uganda and shall uphold, observe, protect and defend the constitution and observe the laws of Uganda and that I shall promote the welfare of the people of Uganda, so help me God,” he added.
At the same ceremony, President Museveni received the instruments of power of the Republic of Uganda which included the National flag, the national Constitution, the Presidential standard flag, national anthem, national coat of arms and the public seal.
President Museveni also received the instruments of national defence from the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Senior Presidential Advisor- Special Operations, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
The President further received a Presidential salute and a national anthem was played, concurrently followed by a 21- gun salute.
In his maiden address to the nation as the new President, H.E Museveni thanked the visiting Presidents for showing solidarity with Uganda.
“I thank all the Excellencies who have come here, the Vice Presidents and the Prime Ministers and the Ministers, they have shown solidarity with us,” he said.
President Museveni, in particular commended Tanzania, Mozambique and Kenya for standing with Uganda during the times of struggle, before the National Resistance Movement (NRM) government came to power in 1986.
“On this occasion, I want to thank the people of Tanzania because we are here celebrating how Uganda is developing now, how UPDF is strong and so on, but the one who gave us the foundation was Mwalimu Julius Nyerere and I’m glad H.E Samia Suluhu is here. So never forget Tanzania,” he said.
“Then we have got our son from Mozambique, H.E Daniel Francisco Chapo. Mozambique working with Mwalimu are the ones who helped us to build this force which you see here. The 28 people who trained in Montepuez are the ones who trained the army which you see here. Then there’s Kenya, when some Ugandans were running away from here, they went to Kenya. So, I particularly want to thank those three countries for helping us.”
The President further thanked Ugandans for trusting and voting for him and the NRM in the recent general elections.
“I congratulate our party the NRM for massively winning those elections. Ugandans, thank you for voting for the NRM,” he said.
“I also congratulate other parties such as the DP, UPC etc that participated in the elections without using violence unlike the party of NUP and some few elements of FDC that were using violence. The parties under IPOD should clearly lay out the agreed guidelines on the do’s and don’ts of election management, according to the laws and constitution of the Republic of Uganda.”
He also noted that this new term should be regarded as the “term of no more sleep” for all Ugandans, explaining that it’s a term of wealth creation.
“During this term, we don’t need people to sleep and then start blaming this and that, yet we have the medication. With the advent of the NRM ever since 1986, the families that came and listened to our messages, got out of poverty,” he noted.
Additionally, President Museveni reminded the citizens of the NRM’s contributions to Uganda.
“The NRM has made seven contributions to Uganda in the last 40 years. The first one is peace which was brought about by the NRM ideology of rejecting the politics of sectarianism and identity, second one is development in the form of economic infrastructure such as roads, electricity, piped water, railway etc, and the social infrastructure such as schools, health centres. Brick number three is wealth,” he said.
“Another brick was service delivery like security,health, justice, education. Those are done by the government. Then another contribution is the market for our goods and services. Now the NRM has been telling you that out of the seven bricks, it has put peace, infrastructure, service delivery, market of East Africa, Africa and international market, so the problem is with you now, to do your part and your part is in two areas; wealth and job creation.”
President Museveni also highlighted the seven activities in agriculture that can be done on a small scale to create wealth and jobs.
“Johnson Basangwa of Kamuli listened to my advice. He had a plot of 50×100 ft which he used to start rearing chicken for eggs. He is now a rich man earning more than Shs7 billion a year now ,but not only is he a rich businessman now, he also employs 300 people,” he stated.
“There’s also Richard Nyakana of Rwengaju, Kabarole who has 1.3 acres of land. He invested in zero grazing for dairy cows, poultry, feeds and manure production. He earns a net of more than Shs240 million a year and employs 15 people.”
President Museveni reiterated that Uganda has got 40 million acres of good arable land and if only 7 million acres were used the way Nyakana utilised his part, the country would have 105 million jobs in small scale commercial agriculture of the 4-acres model or less and the seven economic activities, alone.
“More jobs than the whole population of Uganda. This is before you talk of the big scale commercial agriculture such as Madhvani which employs 14,000 people at Kakira, before you talk of the manufacturing sector that employs 1.5 million people,” he said.
“The message of the NRM is of two words, wealth and job creation. The four sectors; commercial agriculture, manufacturing, services and ICT for now have both low and high-skill jobs like in Kiira Motors and Karuma hydropower station. So don’t say you Museveni, you are talking about only low-skill jobs.”
He emphasized that all the remaining 33 percent of households outside the money economy in Uganda, should join the four sectors of the economy to create wealth and more jobs.
President Museveni also emphasised value addition to Uganda’s raw materials to ensure that the country benefits more from its resources.
“Exporting raw materials is a strategic blunder. Let us take gold as an example. If you export a kilogram of unprocessed gold, 84 percent pure, recently you have been getting USD 60,000, if the gold is processed to 99.9 percent purity, you get USD168,000. Look at the difference in value,” he said.
“However, you don’t only donate the money to the outsiders per kilogram of gold or coffee, you also donate jobs like refining. That is not all, at 84 percent purity, that gold cannot be used as bullion, as currency or as an input in other industries such as jewellery, electronics etc. That’s one of the reasons African economies have remained stunted 70 years after the African countries started regaining their freedom.”
He explained that Uganda’s policy banning the export of unprocessed minerals is intended to promote local value addition, industrialization and employment creation.
President Museveni also said Africa remained economically underutilized despite possessing vast land, population and natural resources, calling for stronger regional integration, industrial growth and increased intra-African trade.
On education, President Museveni called for reforms aimed at equipping learners with practical and employable skills, cautioning against academic programs that do not directly contribute to economic transformation and job creation.
On environmental conservation, the President warned against the destruction of wetlands and forests, saying wetlands are critical for irrigation, rainfall formation and environmental sustainability, while forests help protect water catchment areas and preserve indigenous medicinal resources.
He revealed that the government under the Fourth National Development Plan (NDP-IV) would further prioritize agriculture, manufacturing, ICT and services as drivers of socio-economic transformation.
The President also called upon citizens to actively monitor government programs and participate in the management of Parish Development Model (PDM) SACCOs to prevent misuse of public funds.
The Vice President of Uganda, H.E Jessica Alupo congratulated President Museveni on his electoral victory as well as his swearing-in and inauguration.
“Your Excellency’s score of 71.65 percent in the 2026 Presidential elections is evidence of the massive support that you and the NRM enjoy in the country,” she said.
“Your victory in all areas across the country also symbolises your achievements, popularity and the comprehension by all the people of Uganda in the politics of interests.”
The Vice President also hailed Ugandans who voted President Museveni and other NRM candidates overwhelmingly in the recent general elections.
On the other hand, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) entertained the guests through impressive military displays from the Land Forces, Air Forces, Special Forces Command (SFC) and Reserve Forces.
The ceremony was also attended by several Presidents who included, H.E Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia, H.E Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania, H.E Daniel Francisco Chapo of Mozambique, H.E Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé of Togo, H.E Salva Kiir Mayardit of South Sudan, H.E Brahim Ghali of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, H.E Felix Antoine Tshisekedi of DRC, H.E Brice Oligui Nguema of Gabon, H.E Evariste Ndayishimiye of Burundi and H.E Taye Atske Selassie of Ethiopia, former leaders, representatives of the Heads of State and Government, among other dignitaries.