President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has called on African defence forces to align their operational strategies with economic development, warning that modern militaries cannot endure or maintain strategic autonomy without solid economic foundations.
The President delivered the address on Thursday, October 8, 2026, while closing the four-day inaugural African Conference of Chiefs of Defence Forces on Military Operations Other Than War (MOOTW) at Speke Resort Munyonyo in Kampala.
The summit, hosted by Uganda under the leadership of the Chief of Defence Forces, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, brought together defence chiefs, intelligence heads, force commanders, and strategic delegations from across the continent to establish unified doctrines for operations outside conventional battlefield warfare.
Addressing the military delegations, President Museveni stated that military readiness and national security are inextricably linked to a nation’s economic base, domestic political cohesion, and Pan-African strategic cooperation.
“A country cannot have a strong and safe defence force without a strong economy,” President Museveni said. He explained that funding modern defense acquisitions, specialized training, intelligence infrastructure, and personnel welfare requires continuous wealth creation anchored in four key sectors: commercial agriculture, value-addition manufacturing, services, and Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
The President stressed that individual African countries possess fragmented domestic markets that cannot independently sustain large-scale industrialization.
He urged African leaders and military planners to actively support economic integration under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and regional economic communities, noting that integrated markets provide the necessary scale to consume local produce, generate industrial jobs, and fund national defense budgets.
Turning to the core theme of the summit, President Museveni challenged African militaries to adapt swiftly to non-traditional and asymmetric security threats.
He noted that contemporary defense forces must expand their civil-military roles beyond standard armed conflict to encompass disaster response, civil defense, pandemic containment, critical infrastructure protection, cyber defense, and grassroots development initiatives.
“Our defence forces must also adapt to emerging and non-traditional security threats and contribute to peace and national development. Security and prosperity go together,” he added.
President Museveni expressed Uganda’s gratitude to the visiting Defence Chiefs, Directors of Military Intelligence, and Regional Force Commanders for honoring the invitation and engaging in productive discussions aimed at formulating a unified African Union framework for civil-military operations.
