President Yoweri Museveni launched Uganda’s Fourth National Development Plan (NDP IV), outlining a strategy to drive industrialization, reduce poverty, and achieve socio-economic transformation over the next five years.
The launch took place at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds ahead of the State of the Nation Address on Thursday 5th June 2025. It was witnessed by government leaders including the First Lady Janet Museveni, Speaker of Parliament Anita Among, Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa, and Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja.
Speaker Among described NDP IV as a strategic guide for national progress and a foundation for the upcoming National Budget Speech set for June 12. “I acknowledge the contributions of all stakeholders involved in the formulation of this plan,” she said. “I request that before you begin your address to Parliament and to the nation, you symbolically unveil NDP IV as the foundation for the upcoming budget speech.”
President Museveni credited the National Resistance Movement (NRM) government with laying the ideological and institutional groundwork for Uganda’s development. He said the country’s transformation is rooted in four pillars: patriotism, Pan-Africanism, socio-economic transformation, and democracy.
“This ideology promotes the mass line—ensuring social uplift for all, not just a privileged elite,” Museveni said.
He cited achievements in public education, immunization, and wealth creation programs such as Operation Wealth Creation, the Parish Development Model, and Emyooga. He noted that these interventions have significantly improved the quality of life.
Museveni highlighted a rise in life expectancy from 45 years in 1986 to 63 years today and a population increase from 14 million to 46 million. “Ugandans are now living longer, healthier lives,” he said.
He also pointed to a rise in the national literacy rate from 43 percent in 1986 to 80 percent, and a reduction in the number of Ugandans in subsistence farming from 90 percent to 33 percent. “This transformation illustrates that mass line programmes are the most effective path to socio-economic change,” he added.
NDP IV, which will run from the 2025/2026 to 2029/2030 financial years, focuses on sustainable industrialization, export promotion, import substitution, and skilling youth through industrial vocational hubs.
Other priorities include strengthening the private sector, expanding market access, and ensuring national peace and security.
The plan aims to increase Uganda’s GDP growth rate and raise average monthly household income by the end of its cycle.