KAMPALA.President Museveni has taken his time to respond to an article by veteran journalist Andrew Mwenda which appeared in the Independent Magazine last month .
Museveni accuses Mwenda-who happens to be a close friend of Museveni’s son Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba of sabotaging the country’s industrialisation agenda and serving neo-colonial interests after the columnist described the 82-year -old ruler as too old and intellectually exhausted to assess key government sponsored projects.
In his two-page response released by State House Saturday evening Museveni dismissed claims by Mwenda that he has become intellectually weak or incapable of making sound judgments. Museveni insists that he is still ready to defend himself “with the Bible, the AK-47 and the pen.”
“Mr Mwenda, thank you for declaring me senile and incapable of judging right,” Museveni wrote.
“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.”
In his column titled :“ “When old age strikes a leader,” published in The Independent on April 20 ,2026, Mwenda accused Museveni of increasingly approving dubious multi-billion-shilling projects pushed by “conmen” and politically connected businessmen while refusing to listen to contrary advice from technocrats and cabinet members.
Mwenda particularly questioned government support for businessman David Ssenfuka, whom he described as “actually a conman,” claiming he had convinced Museveni to back a proposal for a pharmaceutical plant after allegedly telling the President he possessed cures for cancer and diabetes.
“He told our president that he had invented a medicine that cures cancer and diabetes,” Mwenda wrote.
“He then suggested to the president that the government of Uganda give him capital worth $1 billion to build a world-class pharmaceutical plant.”
Mwenda claimed several people familiar with Ssenfuka had warned that he was not a credible businessman and alleged Museveni ignored advice cautioning against the proposal.
But in his Saturday response , Museveni dismissed Mwenda’s claims as lazy journalism and challenged him to physically visit projects and interview the initiators of the projects
“You are supposed to be a journalist. Why do you not interview these ‘conmen’ such as Magoola, Ssenfuka, etc.?” Museveni asked.
“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 Ssenfuka’s mixture of herbs. Visit Tugume’s factory in Ntungamo. Visit Professor Muranga’s banana project in Bushenyi.”
Museveni further accused Mwenda of undermining Uganda’s industrialisation efforts and promoting what he described as neo-colonial economic thinking that confines Africa to exporting raw materials rather than processed products.
“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 President wrote.
Calling Mwenda an agent of neo-colonialism , if pursued, risks him to be tried under the recently passed Sovereignty Protection Act 2026 which categories such people as economic saboteurs.
“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.”
Mwenda, calling Senfuka a “conman”, said the herbalist had sought to gain Shs300 million from the taxpayer by selling his herbal remedies as inventions. However, the Nile Post understands Senfuka had only gone to the President after getting million-dollar offers from American pharmacists to sell his herbal innovation.
Senfuka reportedly met Mr Museveni in Mbale in the company of the Americans who were offering a bumper $300 million (Shs1 trillion) who her herbal invention.
The herbalist, who treats diabetes and cancer, had decided to seek audience with the President because the amount of money involved would require such approval to roll. It had taken hours for the President to convince Senfuka to keep his remedies local.
Mwenda’s original article had criticised what he described as a growing pattern of risky government spending concentrated in politically connected projects.
He cited state support for Mathias Magoola and Dei Biopharma, claiming Museveni had pressured cabinet to approve hundreds of millions of dollars in funding despite concerns about viability and accountability.
“With this tall tale, Magoola convinced Museveni to force the government of Uganda to give him Shs 735 billion ($200m) for this venture,” Mwenda wrote.
He also questioned state financing for the Lubowa International Specialised Hospital project linked to Italian investor Enrica Pinetti, Roko Construction, Atiak Sugar Factory, and a coffee processing facility owned by businessman Nelson Tugume.
Mwenda argued that although industrial policy itself was necessary, Museveni’s approach had become reckless because of age-related decline and increasing stubbornness.
“At 81 years and having worked all his last 40 years under conditions of extreme pressure, the intellect is giving way to stubbornness,” Mwenda wrote.
“As a result, project proposals of clearly dubious value get his approval without guardrails within the state to protect the national interest.”
The columnist further claimed that many people close to power had realised Museveni was increasingly unable to monitor multiple sectors effectively and were exploiting that weakness for personal gain.
“Seeing that he is being duped right, left and centre by those closest to him, he just abandons the struggle,” Mwenda wrote.
In his rebuttal ,Museveni defended his government’s aggressive push toward industrialisation, citing Uganda’s growing mineral refining, dairy, coffee, steel, and agro-processing sectors as evidence that state-backed investment was paying off.
He argued that Uganda had already begun benefitting from policies that prioritise value addition, particularly in the gold sector.
“The stubborn old man of Uganda who is senile banned the export of all unprocessed minerals,” Museveni said sarcastically.
“There are now 10 gold refineries in Uganda. The gold exports from Uganda have now hit USD 7.48 billion.”
MUSEVENI STATEMENT IN FULL
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’ankoko, 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.