President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni on November 7, 2025, met with Mr. Guang Cong, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, at Mbale State Lodge, for high-level discussions on regional peace, security, and transboundary cooperation, including the long-standing Nile River dispute.
Mr. Cong, who succeeded Ghana’s Hanna Serwaa Tetteh in July 2025, said his visit aimed to understand the challenges affecting the Horn of Africa and to explore how the UN could support regional peacebuilding initiatives.
“I would love to hear from you about your assessment of the challenges facing the region, and where you think the United Nations can add value to the ongoing efforts,” Mr. Cong said.
President Museveni attributed much of Africa’s instability to ideological bankruptcy among political leaders, arguing that conflicts persist because politics often revolve around tribal, religious, or racial identity rather than the real needs of the people.
“Because they are ideologically bankrupt, they use politics of identity — tribe, religion, race — like in the case of Sudan. That’s how they broke it up, trying to impose Arabism and Islam on everyone when the people were diverse and different,” he said.
The President drew parallels with Uganda’s own history of sectarian division before the rise of the National Resistance Movement (NRM), which introduced a unifying political ideology in the 1960s.
Museveni stressed that national institutions — especially armies and police forces — cannot thrive in societies divided along sectarian lines.
“If you divide people into sectarian groups, you can’t form a national political party or national institutions.
That’s why some of these states depend on foreigners or the UN to defend them,” he explained.
Using humor to illustrate Uganda’s cultural diversity, Museveni recalled a personal conversation with former Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir about religious tolerance.
“I told Bashir that my list of haram is much longer than his. I don’t eat fish, sheep, or chicken — but that’s my culture.
I respect others who eat them,” he said, emphasizing that personal or cultural preferences should never fuel divisions.
He cautioned young Africans, particularly Muslim youth, against importing extremist ideas from abroad.
“If someone eats pork, has he put it in your mouth? No. So, how is it your problem?” Museveni remarked.
President Museveni reaffirmed that Uganda’s interventions in regional conflicts — such as Somalia and South Sudan — are guided by the principle of African self-reliance and solidarity.
“We intervened in Somalia to teach that Africa belongs to us. Whether pagan, Christian, or Muslim, we must live together. The problem is internal — worsened by foreign interference and Europeans supporting bogus groups,” he stated.
Addressing South Sudan’s turmoil, he said Uganda’s involvement aimed to prevent state collapse and restore national unity.
“There were differences between Salva Kiir and Riek Machar, but there’s no problem that can’t be solved. If there are political disagreements, go for elections and let the people decide,” he advised, citing Kenya’s peaceful electoral process as an example.
On tensions between Egypt and Ethiopia over the Nile River, President Museveni argued that the real danger is not political rivalry but environmental degradation and underdevelopment in the Nile Basin.
“The danger to the Nile is the increasing poor population that depends on biomass for cooking, cuts forests, and destroys wetlands. If you care about the Nile, focus on transforming economies in the catchment areas,” he said.
He emphasized that modernizing agriculture, expanding industrialization, and improving access to clean energy are essential to protecting water resources.
Citing historical data, Museveni revealed that the volume of water flowing from Uganda to Sudan had dropped from 60 billion cubic meters in 1964 to about 40 billion today, mainly due to deforestation and reduced rainfall.
“Where has the 20 billion gone? It’s because of environmental destruction. That’s what people should be discussing,” he said.
The President also urged regional leaders to look beyond the Nile and explore the vast potential of the Congo River, which carries 3,000 billion cubic meters of water — nearly 35 times more than the Nile.
“You’re quarreling over the Nile’s 85 billion cubic meters, yet the Congo River has 3,000 billion. If there was peace, the water flowing into the ocean every minute would be enough for all of us,” he said.
Museveni concluded by urging African leaders to pursue ideological clarity, unity, and practical leadership focused on the needs of their people.
“Africa’s path to peace and prosperity lies in ideological clarity and leadership that prioritizes real needs — not power struggles,” he said.
Mr. Cong thanked the President for his insights and commended Uganda’s long-standing role in promoting peace and stability in the Horn of Africa.
“Thank you so much, Your Excellency, for the opportunity to meet with you. I wish you and the people of Uganda a very successful election,” the envoy said.
Mr. Cong, a seasoned Chinese diplomat, assumed his role in July 2025 and is tasked with advancing peace, stability, and cooperation across the Horn of Africa — a region long marred by conflict, competition over resources, and external interference.
The meeting underscores Uganda’s continued engagement with international partners to promote peace, stability, and socio-economic transformation in the region.
