Africa Must Unite — Address to the African Union

Delivered at the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Organisation of African Unity, this address saw Museveni champion the pan-African politics central to his ideology. Speaking before heads of state from across the continent, he argued that Africa's fragmentation into 54 small states was the continent's primary obstacle to development.

Museveni made the case for a political federation of Africa — not merely an economic community — arguing that the size of African states made them targets for external manipulation and incapable of negotiating from a position of strength on the world stage. He pointed to the East African Community as a model of what deeper integration could achieve.

The speech drew both applause and controversy, with leaders from smaller states wary of ceding sovereignty to a larger African body. It remains one of the most substantive articulations of the pan-African federalist case by a sitting African president.