Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) presidential candidate Nathan Nandala Mafabi has unveiled an ambitious plan to transform Uganda’s governance from military dominance to economic management, vowing to “move leadership from the barracks to the boardroom.”
Mafabi said Uganda’s progress has been stifled by an over reliance on security-centered governance, arguing that true development lies in economic competence, not military strength.
“Stockpiles of guns, tanks, and missiles cannot feed a hungry child or buy medicine for a sick mother,” Mafabi said. “Security alone is not development.”
The Budadiri West legislator and fiscal policy analyst said Uganda now needs “commanders of the economy”leaders who understand budgets, healthcare financing, education, and job creation rather than military figures managing national affairs.
He pledged to restore what he termed economic dignity to Ugandans through policies focused on education, healthcare, and job creation.
Mafabi’s blueprint outlines major investments in social services. He promised to construct 87,000 new primary school classrooms to end overcrowding while ensuring equal pay for teachers of arts and sciences.
His plan includes introducing a national school feeding policy so that no child studies on an empty stomach and increasing the UPE capitation grant to Shs 200,000 per pupil and USE capitation grant to Shs 500,000 per student.
He also pledged to build 200 new public secondary schools and 10 modern stadiums each with a 20,000-capacity, while ensuring free sanitary pads and tax-free sanitary towels for all schoolgirls.
The proposal further includes upgrading football pitches in every parish and establishing 10 national sports academies for various disciplines.
In health, Mafabi vowed to upgrade all district hospitals to regional referral level and regional hospitals to national status.
He promised to launch a National Ambulance Service with ambulances at every Health Centre IV and air ambulances in each region, allocate 10% of the national budget to health, and establish a National Health Insurance Fund where families contribute only Shs 20,000 annually.
He added that his government would build housing for health workers near facilities, create rehabilitation centers for youth struggling with drug and alcohol abuse, and establish a loan scheme for all qualifying university students.
Mafabi said his leadership would prioritize practical solutions rooted in fiscal discipline and evidence-based policy, asserting that economic management not military command will determine Uganda’s future stability and prosperity.
“Even soldiers need hospitals, education, and salaries all solved by finance.This is not a rebuke of those who protect us, but a call for balance,”he noted in a statement.
He urged Ugandans to “trust in competence” and support leadership that prioritizes welfare over warfare.
“Let us choose economic commanders who will build, nourish, and empower our nation,” Mafabi said.
