Old revolutionary sends MPs to sleep.

The reactions to President Yoweri Museveni state of the nation address ably captured the mood of the nation.

An MP told me he slept throughout the two and half hour state of the nation address and could not remember a single word from it. His colleague told me he wasn’t sorry for having missed the function.

President Museveni was upbeat about the country’s economic performances and actually said Uganda is ready for an economic take-off; something I will write on later.

The president mentioned that the economy was projected to grow by an impressive 9.8 per cent this year, up from 6.5 per cent last year, on the back of a booming construction sector, fuelled largely by spending on infrastructure for the November Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

Museveni promised to refocus on agriculture, energy and industrialisation.

All said the short and long from the president’s address was that the president failed to inspire the nation by his speech, not because his speech lacked gravitas but because he failed to convincingly address issues closed to the nation’s heart.

The president failed to come out strong on graft and how he would handle it-graft has eaten much of Uganda’s economy, yet if it was handled, donor funding could drop over night to a tiny 17%

There is almost a unanimous consensus that Uganda’s problem is not the lack of resources but the management of it.

By not coming out with a sound plan for fighting graft and reinforcing good governance, president convinced few that he could deliver on any of his other promises.