President Yoweri Museveni has advised newly elected Members of Parliament from the ruling NRM to cut down on foreign trips and shift their attention to direct engagement with citizens, saying national development will only be achieved if leaders spend more time in their communities rather than abroad.
He made the remarks during a leadership engagement session at the National Leadership Institute Kyankwanzi, held at National Leadership Institute Kyankwanzi, where he urged legislators to ground their leadership style in household-level interaction and local economic assessment.
Museveni emphasized that MPs should regularly move through their constituencies to understand how families are surviving, especially by identifying who is already participating in income-generating activities and who is still trapped outside the money economy.
He cautioned that frequent benchmarking missions and prolonged committee assignments in Parliament risk disconnecting leaders from the realities on the ground, weakening their ability to effectively represent and mobilize their voters.
The President further advised MPs against relying on personal finances or borrowing money to support community projects, arguing that such efforts should be anchored in structured government development programs rather than individual sacrifice.
He highlighted agriculture and small-scale enterprise as key drivers of rural transformation, pointing to activities such as coffee farming, dairy production, poultry keeping, piggery, fish farming, and fruit growing as practical pathways for household income improvement.
Museveni also referenced progress in his own areas of mobilization, noting that thousands of households have reportedly transitioned into productive economic activity through sustained political guidance and continuous grassroots follow-up.
Other leaders including Vice President Jessica Alupo, Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa, and Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja backed the President’s message, encouraging MPs to embrace unity and focus on service delivery as a shared responsibility between Parliament and the Executive.
About the Author
