24/05/2026
Veteran journalist Andrew Mwenda fired a scathing opening salvo, writing a highly critical article that fundamentally questioned the business viability of several state-backed mega-projects. In his piece, Mwenda argued that the state was pouring massive capital into speculative, multi-million-dollar ventures—such as Dr. Matthias Magoola’s pharmaceutical plant, Nelson Tugume’s Ntungamo coffee factory, and the long-delayed Kiira Motors initiative. To Mwenda, these massive allocations represent high-risk, "white elephant" projects that drain a financially strained national treasury to enrich a few individuals, rather than funding countless smallholders across the country.
Crucially, Mwenda’s critique went beyond economics; he pointedly attributed these decisions to President Yoweri Museveni’s advanced age, suggesting the 82-year-old leader was becoming less capable of rigorously vetting the ambitious sales pitches of surrounding wheeler-dealers.
President Museveni did not take the insult lying down. Penning a fierce, deeply personal rebuttal, the "Stubborn Old Man of Uganda" proudly weaponized his age, declaring that at 82, he is still fully equipped to defend himself and his nation using "the Bible, the AK-47, and the pen".
Mr Museveni strongly rejected the "white elephant" label, viewing these industrial pushes not as failures, but as essential battlegrounds for economic liberation. He accused Mwenda of acting as a "neo-colonial agent" and a "do-nothing-er" content with a status quo that traps Africa into exporting cheap, unprocessed raw materials.
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