Open letter to President Museveni: Ten Reasons why you should retire in 2026

On January 26, 2026, it will mark 40 years since you became the President of this country. Since 1986, you have led the country through significant changes and your leadership has shaped Uganda in many positive ways.

However, as Uganda has evolved over these years, so have the challenges facing the country –fulfilling the saying that every generation and its own challenges.

Today, several urgent challenges exist that have either eluded your administration, lagged, emerged or grown during your tenure of leadership and will require a new generation of leadership to tackle these challenges using contemporary thinking.

Mr. Museveni, in case you read this piece, below are some of the challenges that I believe require urgent confrontation by a new generation of leadership that is only possible if you can peacefully retire at end of your current term in 2026.

Please give a chance and space for these new generation leaders to emerge and build on your numerous achievements at the same time address the challenges of the present and future.

2. Increased economic challenges: During your tenure, Uganda has undergone significant transformations. In 1986, for example, Uganda was predominantly a subsistence economy where money was less essential for survival as life primarily required tilling the land and producing food for consumption. Today, Uganda, as necessitated by the times, has transitioned into a cash economy. Without a daily income that exceeds the cost of living, survival has become increasingly challenging. Despite several interventions from your government over the many many years, the capacity of the majority of Ugandans to afford a meaningful living worsens each year. Contemporary economic challenges require the stewardship of a new generation of thinkers to tackle these issues using contemporary approaches. Your retirement will pave the way for the rise of these leaders without further delay.
3. The need for urgent education system reform: The education system you presided over these four decades has produced largely two categories of the workforce –the uneducated, unskilled youth, composed of mainly primary and secondary level dropouts with no specific skills to hire or rent for income; and a lot of tertiary level graduates (diploma and degree holders) with mainly irrelevant theoretical education and hardly any production-oriented skills, leaving them unemployable. This system has resulted in a significant portion of the youth being unable to secure meaningful employment leaving them destitute and hopeless. To reverse this and address the consequences of this system, radical thinking and interventions are necessary, which are less likely to happen under your continued leadership.

3. The need for reshaping and repackaging the agricultural sector:  40 years ago, you inherited a predominantly agrarian economy. Despite various interventions, the sector remains disorganised and less impactful at all levels of the value chain. Under your four-decade leadership, commercial agriculture, once organised and thriving under cooperatives and marketing boards, has hardly improved. Your popularised interventions such as the Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP), Plan for Modernisation of Agriculture (PMA), Prosperity for All, and recently the Parish Development Model (PDM) have all failed to yield meaningful results at both household and national levels, despite trillions of shillings sunk in such programmes. Therefore, there is an urgent need for fresh blood in thinking aimed at inventing workable solutions to revitalise this crucial sector –otherwise, the backbone and engine of Uganda’s economy, to accelerate the country’s economic development.

4. Industrialisation progress: The progress of Uganda's industrialisation, Mr. President, is not commensurate with four decades of uninterrupted leadership. Despite your efforts to turn Uganda into an industrial hub, significant challenges remain. For example, corruption remains a key obstacle to attracting foreign investors; likewise, regressive taxes on indigenous budding industries continue to hamper your efforts to promote local-entrepreneur-led industrial development in the country. After 40 years of trying, Mr. President, it is only patriotic to let a new generation take over and employ their innovative spirit and see how to accelerate industrial development in Uganda, akin to the successes seen in the kinds of Singapore, Malaysia and their peers who achieved tremendous industrial and economic growth in a period less than your own tenure at the helm of Uganda’s government.

5. Failure to fight corruption: Mr President, despite your acknowledgement of corruption and all your efforts to address it, the outcomes have been largely ineffective. Corruption persists as a pervasive problem, continuously draining public resources meant for services and investments, thereby severely hampering national development. Various reports and audits estimate that Uganda loses trillions of shillings to corruption annually. For instance, a 2021 study by Government Transparency Institute, published by Business Insider Africa, revealed that Uganda loses at least 23 per cent of the country’s annual budget to corruption. In the same year, the Inspectorate of Government put Uganda’s total annual cost of corruption at Shs19.2 trillion, nearly half of Uganda’s annual budget by then. These statistics are further reflected by Uganda’s rank (142 out of 180) on the 2020 Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, indicating widespread corruption perceptions among businesses and the public. I can tell you, that corruption has since increased. The persistence and growth of corruption in Uganda over the past three decades highlights your administration's failure to control this economic cancer. Your prolonged tenure appears to have allowed corruption to flourish rather than diminish! It is apparent, therefore, that efforts to tame the vice of corruption in Uganda might require a brand new set of administration with the needed will, and zeal to confront this debilitating problem, which is pushing Uganda further into economic debt and stagnation of public services and threatens to drag Uganda into the grave of a failed state.

6. Transitioning of governance Institutions: For any country to develop sustainably, it requires strong and independent institutions that outlast any single individual's tenure. Your extended stay in power has seen many institutions weakened and overly dependent on your direct influence. Your Excellency, you are well aware or should I tell you that you are now synonymous with the State –kind of, you are the state and the state is you, at least in the minds of those who serve in many state agencies such as the police, the army, the Judiciary, the Parliament, and many others. This has created a fragile state of governance where institutional continuity and independence are compromised. Your Excellency, patronage of state institutions around an individual leader has historically been found to be a prime recipe of chaos, political turmoil, genocide and sometimes ascendance to a failed state in many countries around the world. Allowing a transition of leadership will enable these institutions to rejuvenate and operate with a renewed sense of autonomy and purpose, ensuring they serve the public interest rather than individual interests. This is essential for Uganda's long-term stability and growth.

7. Facilitating democratic maturity: A key indicator of a mature democracy is the peaceful transition of power. After 40 years of your leadership, it is time to demonstrate Uganda's commitment to democratic principles by enabling a smooth transition to a new leader. This act will set a powerful precedent for future leaders and strengthen the belief in democratic processes among Ugandans. It will also signal to the international community that Uganda is committed to democratic governance, potentially fostering better diplomatic and economic relations with our global neighbours who believe in democracy.

8. Leaving a lasting legacy: President, you have already made your mark on Uganda's history. Whatever you may not have done in 40 years may never come to pass. After all, even biblically, the number 40 represents a full cycle. Likewise, four decades of leadership should allow you to leave on a high note, securing your legacy as a leader who inherited a post-turmoil economy, took it through decades of transformation, built its political and economic institutions and along the way recognised the importance of change and continuity and gave way. Your Excellency, there are examples to look up to in the recent past –the kinds of your great mentor,  Mwalimu Julius K. Nyerere of Tanzania, Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore, Nelson Mandela of South Africa and more recently Jerry John Rawlings of Ghana, to mention but a few contemporary examples. This decision will be remembered as a moment of great wisdom and patriotism on your part, ensuring that your contributions are honoured and respected for generations and generations to come.

9. Focus on statesmanship: At 80 years of age, you are certainly not as energetic as you were forty years ago when you first came to power in 1986. Rather than spend your dwindling energy on running up and about running the nation, you might as well remain relevant by doing a less draining role of an elder statesman, offering guidance and wisdom to the younger generation of leaders without the pressures of daily governance. This is equally a crucial role for mentoring new leaders and maintaining stability.

10. Personal health and wellbeing: I couldn’t think of a more exhausting job than being the President of a growing republic like Uganda with civil wars to put away, regional terrorism and instability to deal with, an economy to build from scratch, international relationships to build, external interests to deal with and domestic expectorations to keep up with, all for a good four decades! Yet this comes after another two decades-plus of full-time military activity. This, coupled with your age, Mr President, calls on you to prioritise your health and well-being by taking a rest from active service life. Retiring now would allow you to rest and enjoy your achievements while ageing gracefully without the noise of politics.

In conclusion, Mr President, your leadership has shaped Uganda in many positive ways over the past 40 years and your contributions are unquestionably admired by all Ugandans of goodwill. However, the time has come to pass the baton to a new generation that can build on your achievements and address the challenges of the present and future. Your retirement in 2026 will not only honour your legacy but also mark a significant milestone in Uganda's democratic journey and pave the way for continued growth and prosperity for all Ugandans.

 

Agaba Muzoora

A proud citizen of this country and by age, your son!

[email protected]