Uganda’s three-decade president Yoweri Museveni has said he would be pleased to retire when Africa is united.
Museveni spoke Wednesday during the 4th Africa Global Business Forum, a gathering of business moguls, hosted by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce at Dubai’s Madinat Jumeirah Centre, and attended by heads of state of Rwanda, Seychelles, and Mauritius.
In a question and answer themed: “Next Generation Africa – Realising the Promise of Integration”, Museveni said he would want to leave behind him an Africa that is both politically and economically united.
“I would like to see one common market for Africa. I would also like to see bigger political unions to defend ourselves in the world of giants,” Museveni told session moderator Sangu Delle, the Chief Executive Officer at Ghana’s Golden Palm Investments.
“An Africa with one common market, a big stimuli for production. People don’t understand that the 54 countries in Africa can’t be prosperous if they don’t integrate especially economically and politically.”
Museveni has severally rooted for a united Africa, and is at the forefront of the re-ntegration of East Africa.
Last month, Kenya’s ex-vice president Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka said Museveni would make a great leader for a united East Africa.
But Museveni, in power since 1986, faces an uphill task in the age limit that could bar him from running for president when Uganda next goes to the polls in 2021.
Born in 1944, Museveni will be over 75 years and the constitution bars him from standing for president.
There is already a bill to scrap the age limit, and Museveni’s ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party structures have endorsed the bill
But the proposed amendment remains largely unpopular, with those backing it continuously greeted with hostility.
