Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni moved Thursday to clarify recent remarks about access to the Indian Ocean, saying his comments had been widely misunderstood and were never intended to signal hostility toward Kenya or any other East African Community member state.
The president instead argued that his statements were part of a crucial conversation on long-term regional security and the necessity of deeper political and military integration within the EAC.
In an interview with the Ugandan national broadcaster on Thursday, Nov. 20, Museveni sought to calm what he called a growing debate in Kenya that had followed his earlier comments.
“How can I be hostile when I am promoting economic integration to Kenya?” Museveni asked. “But the issue of strategic security, this is where I spoke about the Indian Ocean. Even if we are together in EAC, we don’t plan defense together.”
Museveni explained that when he mentioned the Indian Ocean, he was pointing to the limitations landlocked countries face when planning for long-term defense. He contended that Africa’s fragmented approach to military planning increases its vulnerability, especially in a world where global powers have advanced technological capabilities, including space programs.
“As we talk, some of the people in the world are on the moon,” he noted. “Those people on the moon are looking at us like insects.”
The president argued that separate defense systems weaken the region’s standing in global strategic affairs. He highlighted that while the East African Community has made progress with the customs union and common market, the region has not yet built a shared defense plan.
“You find Kenya goes their own defense, Tanzania has, Uganda has and the countries near the shores they are there but maybe they may not have finance,” Museveni said.
To address this perceived vulnerability, Museveni advocated for the creation of an East African Federation that would bring the region’s militaries under a single command. He stressed that while economic integration is vital for prosperity—creating a large market that buys products and helps the region get rich—it “does not solve the problem of security.”
“You can be rich but vulnerable. So that’s why we say no, we need to go beyond economic integration and go for political integration,” he explained.
Museveni asserted that a unified force, formed through political federation, would maximize the region’s potential, give East Africa stronger bargaining power and provide better capacity to confront future threats.
“The Federation of East Africa would bring together our countries here and it would be a very strong force. Even militarily. It will create a center of gravity for the black race,” Museveni stated.
The Ugandan president described this push as a necessary move to maximize the region’s potential instead of allowing individual countries to struggle with limited resources, viewing disunity as a primary reason global powers view the continent as weak.
