President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has called on Uganda’s youth to dedicate their energy to championing the long-sought political and economic integration of East Africa.

Speaking on Friday, November 14, 2025, during a media engagement with journalists in the Bukedi sub-region at the State Lodge in Mbale, President Museveni, who is also the National Resistance Movement (NRM) presidential candidate, outlined the seven core pillars of the NRM’s 2026–2031 manifesto and emphasized the strategic role of regional unity in securing Africa’s future.

During the interaction, President Museveni critiqued young people who, in his view, spend too much time engaging in riots or waste energy on radio debates that “do not benefit them.”