Museveni breaks silence on Shs100m MPs’ cash bonanza

President Museveni has accused Opposition MPs of focusing so much on the Shs100 million he reportedly gave to each National Resistance Movement (NRM) legislator, as well as independent and ‘friendly’ opposition parliamentarians, as a bailout gift, which many of his critics have described as a bribe to the House.

The taxpayers’ money, which sources say was picked by MPs between Monday night and Tuesday morning, was part of the classified expenditures and supplementary budget passed by Parliament, many Ugandans have described as a House of Deals.

In his Friday, April 11, 2025 statement, Mr Museveni, who has in the past made several public statements condemning and vowing to crush corruption, argues that one of the purposes of the classified budget is to buy classified equipment and also to promote activities that help in defeating the “enemy schemes in Uganda and keep the peace of the People of Uganda.”

“Has this helped to keep the peace? Absolutely. Is that not the reason why Uganda is an island of peace in this area? How many traitor groups and schemes have we defeated? Our People can list them for you. Have you heard?” Mr Museveni, 80, asks rhetorically.

Further, Mr Museveni, who has ruled Uganda since 1986 when he shot his way to State House through a five-year guerilla warfare, also accused Opposition MPs of running the anti-corruption campaign which he claimed is supported by this publication which broke the story about his Shs100m gift to the MPs.

Ugandans, especially the Bazzukulu.
Greetings. Kopango; yoga; muliyo mutya; murairegye; muriyo kulungi; ingonia; ebinyera; mata; koidheyo; murembe; bwabukyiire; etc., etc.
Last night, on UBC, I saw a cluster of Opposition MPs, led by a one Kivumbi, expending a lot of energy, on the supposed sh. 100 million per person given to MPs through classified Funds, etc.

In this campaign, these Opposition MPs are supported by the anti-Ugandan newspaper known as “Monitor”.
We, the FRONASA- NRA combatants, fought from 1971 to 1987, ie 17 years, without pay. Since 1987 until about 3 years ago, the UPDF has been fighting but being paid very low salaries.

Until July 1, 2022, a General was being paid Shs 2,029,152, equivalent to about USD 560.
Therefore, with FRONASA-NRA-UPDF, the motivation for contribution is patriotism, Pan-Africanism, etc. Actors in the wider Ugandan Society have different perceptions. Those who listen to us, we try to guide them and they make good contribution when they listen.

However, for the Kivumbi group of Opposition MPs and for the Monitor Newspaper, I have one question: “Dear Sirs and madams, have you ever heard of foreign funds being sent into Uganda to influence our politics in the favour of the foreigners?”
Secondly, the next question: “If you are an anti-corruption warrior you claim to be, why have you never talked about these foreign funds?”

Who has been receiving these foreign funds and for what purpose? When you receive foreign funds, you are not only corrupt but you are a traitor.
Regarding the classified funds, they have two purposes: to buy classified equipment and also to promote activities that help in defeating the enemy schemes in Uganda and keep the peace of the People of Uganda.

Has this helped to keep the peace? Absolutely. Is that not the reason why Uganda is an island of peace in this area?
How many traitor groups and schemes have we defeated? Our People can list them for you. Have you heard?
Regarding the foreign funds, recently, a Congressman (MP) in the USA, by the names of Rep. Andy Barr, said the following, “But let me focus on Uganda because my colleague from Texas raised that issue.

A country that has thousands of soldiers fighting for our counterterrorism interests against Al-Shabaab in Somalia, and that country was severely punished by the Biden administration for signing its anti-homosexuality law into law in May of 2023.

The Biden administration revoked Uganda’s AGOA eligibility, enacted visa restrictions on Ugandan individuals, and pressured the World Bank to prohibit new public financing. Despite this, USAID has provided a $600,000 grant to empower Uganda’s LGBT community to push back against this legislation.”

And a $5,400,000 grant to shift public perception and attitudes in Uganda towards LGBT acceptance and to train LGBT individuals on the skills needed to engage in the economy. Now in Uganda, China is expected to finance the $5,000,000,000 East African crude oil pipeline directly because Western leaders and the World Bank are walking away from the project, because of the Biden administration’s response to their own domestic legislation. Mr. Primark, should taxpayer dollars go toward penalizing countries like Uganda for making their own internal domestic political decisions on social issues that one administration doesn’t agree with, which in turn strengthens the country’s relationships with our adversaries like the communists in China?”