Museveni’s seventh term

AS far as outcomes go, 81-year-old Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s triumph in the just-concluded nationwide election in the East-Central African country must rank among the most predictable. While, on paper, all the political parties contesting the election potentially had a chance of winning, it was an open secret all along that this was effectively a one-horse race. Last weekend’s declaration of Mr. Museveni’s National Resistance Movement (NRM) as the clear winner, having claimed 71.65 percent of all votes cast, merely confirms what watchers of Ugandan politics have known all along.

In Museveni’s Uganda, it would appear that the more things change, the more they remain the same. As the results of the election were being collated, Ugandan security services swooped on the residence of 43-year-old opposition figure Bobi Wine (real name Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu) and placed him under house arrest. As of the time of writing, Mr. Wine’s whereabouts were unknown. This recalls what the same security agents had done back in 2021 when Mr. Wine and his family were harassed for the crime of opposing Mr. Museveni. 

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Indeed, in several respects, last week’s election was an echo of the last. Just like in 2021, Mr. Museveni mobilised the resources of the state to stifle the opposition, repress the media, induce an artificial internet blackout, and generally create an unconducive atmosphere for his perceived political enemies. At least ten people were killed when soldiers and police reportedly fired tear gas and live bullets at hundreds of people who were following early results at the home of Opposition MP Muwanga Kivumbi.

While Mr. Wine’s whereabouts are unknown, there is no doubt as to what will happen when he eventually secures his freedom, which is to protest the outcome of a vote that he and other opposition figures have characterised as a “massive” fraud. For its part, the government will most likely bring down the hammer on the opposition, further deepening political instability in the country. In a sense, then, the just concluded election is a detraction from the real story in Uganda, which is about one man’s attempt to rule the country for life and, if he has his way, hand over power to his son, army general Muhoozi Kainerugaba. Mr. Museveni’s hunger for immortalisation is reminiscent of the pattern seen in other parts of Africa, including Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire and Rwanda, renowned for leaders who have apparently resolved to rule for life.

Upon overthrowing Tito Okello in January 1986, Museveni said that “the problem of Africa in general and Uganda in particular is not the people but leaders who want to overstay in power.” It is unfortunate that, 40 years on, the Ugandan president has come to epitomise a malaise he once derided.