Museveni clarifies Indian Ocean access remarks after sparking regional debate
KAMPALA, Uganda — Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has moved to clarify comments that appeared to assert Uganda’s entitlement to access the Indian Ocean, saying his remarks were about the need for a deeper political federation within the East African Community to ensure shared security and trade.
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Speaking to Uganda’s national broadcaster on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025, Museveni said his earlier comments were anchored in the long-discussed push to elevate the EAC beyond a customs union and common market toward a political federation that aligns defense, economic, and foreign policy.
“The issue of strategic security is why I talked about the Indian Ocean,” Museveni said. “Even if we are together in the EAC, we don’t plan defense together. Every member country has its own defense.” He added that some coastal nations lack the resources to fund naval or satellite capabilities on their own, arguing that shared security would be stronger and more efficient under a federation.
Museveni’s clarification follows an earlier interview on Nov. 11 in which he warned that landlocked countries like Uganda are highly vulnerable without guaranteed access to sea routes. He urged East African nations to integrate more closely to avoid future conflicts, calling many colonial-era borders “irrational” and saying they leave some states “stuck” without reliable corridors to global markets. “How do I export my products?” he asked at the time, stressing reliance on neighbors to move goods.
Referencing protracted talks on railways, pipelines, and other regional infrastructure, Museveni voiced frustration with the pace of integration and logistics planning. “The ocean belongs to me because where is my ocean? I’m entitled to that ocean,” he said in the earlier remarks — a line that triggered sharp debate in Kenya and across East Africa, and a wave of online memes poking fun at his “missing ocean” claim.
Uganda, a landlocked country, depends heavily on regional infrastructure and port access managed by coastal neighbors, especially Kenya. While the EAC has made progress on trade facilitation over the past two decades, regional defense and key strategic assets — including seaports, rail corridors, and petroleum pipelines — remain under national control. Museveni framed his Indian Ocean comments as part of a broader argument that genuine political union would enable joint investment, shared security responsibilities, and smoother export routes for all member states.
The EAC, which has expanded in recent years and aspires to eventual political federation, currently emphasizes a common market and customs alignment. But critical elements of sovereignty — defense, external relations, and large-scale infrastructure financing — remain fragmented, often slowing projects that are essential to regional trade and food and energy security.
Museveni’s reset is likely to ease immediate concerns that his statements signaled a territorial claim or a challenge to existing port arrangements. Still, the episode underscores the political sensitivities around access to the Indian Ocean and the practical constraints facing landlocked economies. It also highlights the gap between the EAC’s integration goals and the day-to-day pressures of moving goods across borders, where delays, financing hurdles, and national priorities can stall long-planned projects.
By situating his remarks within the case for a political federation — one that would coordinate defense and large-scale infrastructure — Museveni sought to recast a contentious soundbite into a policy argument: that East Africa’s security and export ambitions hinge on deeper integration rather than ocean-adjacent geography alone.
By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
