President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has challenged senior security officers to become frontline advocates of wealth creation, patriotism and national transformation after officially passing out 106 officers who completed an advanced ideological and leadership course at the National Leadership Institute (NALI) in Kyankwanzi.
The officers, drawn from the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), Uganda Police Force, Uganda Prisons Service, Internal Security Organisation (ISO), External Security Organisation (ESO) and Wazalendo SACCO, completed a 59-day programme aimed at strengthening leadership, strategic thinking and ideological orientation within Uganda’s security sector.Speaking during the graduation ceremony at State House Entebbe, Museveni delivered an extensive address on development, security and Uganda’s future, telling the officers that national progress is achieved through a deliberate and gradual process.
He compared societal transformation to stages of growth in nature, emphasizing that prosperity requires proper guidance, vision and commitment.The President said Uganda’s development agenda is centered on moving citizens from subsistence living into the money economy through commercial agriculture, industrialisation, services and technology. He noted that communities can only achieve lasting prosperity when they actively participate in production and market-driven economic activities.Museveni urged the officers to continue mobilising communities to embrace productive use of land, highlighting the government’s Four-Acre Model as a practical pathway to household wealth creation.
He argued that even small landholdings can generate significant income when properly managed through a combination of crop farming, livestock keeping and other agricultural enterprises.He further stressed that prosperity is created through production rather than dependence, explaining that individuals and nations advance when they produce goods and services that others are willing to buy. According to the President, this understanding formed the foundation of the ideological principles that guided Uganda’s liberation struggle and continue to shape national policy today.Warning against tribalism and sectarian politics, Museveni said economic success depends on national unity and access to wider markets beyond local communities.
He maintained that patriotism and Pan-Africanism remain critical for Uganda’s future, especially as increasing production demands larger regional and continental markets for trade and investment.The graduates pledged to apply the lessons acquired during the training to strengthen security institutions and contribute to Uganda’s socio-economic transformation. The course concluded with President Museveni congratulating the officers and urging them to become ambassadors of integrity, patriotism and development in their respective areas of service.
