KAMPALA, UGANDA: 20 September 2026— President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has marked his 82nd birthday with a sharp, dual-pronged address to the nation, detailing how Uganda dismantled an entrenched middleman racket to lower fuel import costs while outlining a ambitious 18-year roadmap for continental political and economic integration.
In a personal message addressed to Ugandans, particularly the youth (Bazzukulu), President Museveni expressed gratitude to the eight million well-wishers who celebrated his 82nd birthday on September 15, 2026. Striking an optimistic tone, the President stated that the blessings would push him and First Lady Janet Museveni to reach the 100-year and 96-year marks, respectively.
However, the President quickly pivoted from personal milestones to regional economics and continental geopolitics, using the remaining 18 years of his personal timeline to urge Africa toward complete sovereignty.
Busting the Petroleum Middlemen
Addressing media commentary surrounding his recent groundbreaking of the 320-million-liter fuel storage facility at Buyala, President Museveni set the record straight on how Uganda successfully rewrote its petroleum import strategy.
The President revealed that for years, civil servants in the Ministry of Energy had been procuring Uganda’s fuel through Kenyan middlemen via supply tenders, quietly inflating local pump prices. Museveni noted that he only discovered the arrangement in 2019 after being alerted by former Kenyan Senator Cyrus Jirongo.
After initial administrative delays, Uganda systematically bypassed the intermediaries in August 2023 by entering a direct supply contract with global bulk supplier Vitol. The direct arrangement brought immediate, significant cost reductions per metric tonne across all fuel imports:
- Diesel: Dropped from $118.00 to $83.00 per metric tonne ($35.00 savings).
- Petrol: Dropped from $97.50 to $61.50 per metric tonne ($36.00 savings).
- Aviation Fuel: Dropped from $114.25 to $79.25 per metric tonne ($35.00 savings).
President Museveni extended explicit thanks to Kenyan President William Ruto for intervening against protectionist interests in Kenya that attempted to block the transition. Under the current arrangement, Uganda now transports its bulk-purchased fuel directly through the Kenya Pipeline system, where Uganda holds a 20.15% equity stake.
An 18-Year Blueprint for African Dominance
Looking toward his 100th year, President Museveni called on Africans to fulfill three uncompleted “historical missions” to ensure survival and thwart future foreign subjugation:
Economic Prosperity: Unifying the African common market to allow regional wealth creators and businesses to scale beyond small domestic borders.
Strategic Security: Accelerating political integration across the continent—citing the proposed East African Federation as a blueprint—to build military and strategic leverage against global threats.
Cultural Brotherhood (Undugu): Leveraging the shared roots of Africa’s 1.5 billion people across its four core linguistic categories: Niger-Congo (Bantu and Kwa), Nilo-Saharan (Cushitic and Nilotic), Afro-Asiatic (Arabic, Tigrinya, and Amharic), and Khoisan.
It is the fulfillment of these historical missions that will guarantee our prosperity and strategic security,” Museveni stated, framing the struggle for energy independence in Uganda as a single piece of a broader battle for pan-African self-reliance.
