The President also recalled the close cooperation between Uganda and Tanzania, citing trade, the East African Crude Oil Pipeline, the Murongo-Kyikagate mini-hydro project, roads in Tanzania, the Masaka-Bukoba transmission line and the Standard Gauge Railway, which has reached Isaka and is expected to extend towards Uganda and beyond.
According to Mukula, Uganda believes in the free and orderly movement of people, goods, services, and capital within the framework of regional laws and protocols, stating that it will continue to stand for the dignity of African brothers and sisters because Africa belongs to Africans.
The proposed Tanga Regional Energy Hub will serve as a centre for petroleum storage, refining, logistics, trading and distribution, while complementing Uganda's planned 60,000-barrel-per-day Hoima refinery. It is also expected to strengthen regional energy security, expand fuel exports and boost cross-border trade throughout East and Central Africa.
Uganda will co-host the 2027 tournament with Kenya and Tanzania under the East African "Pamoja" bid, the first time AFCON will be staged in the region.
As of 2026, Uganda is home to nearly two million refugees and asylum seekers, most of whom have fled conflict in neighboring countries like South Sudan, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is not to say that other countries in the region do not offer refuge to those fleeing war as Kenya and Tanzania do so too.
Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, the former President of Malawi and Special Envoy of the Commonwealth Secretary-General, was tasked with engaging key stakeholders on political freedoms, electoral reform, and accountability after post-election protests and violence.