• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Africa Horn Now

"We don't take sides; we help you see more sides."

Africa Horn Now

ካብ ውሽጢ ቤት ማእሰርታት ኤርትራ

Published: May 6, 2021

PBS: Escaping Eritrea … [Read More...] about ካብ ውሽጢ ቤት ማእሰርታት ኤርትራ

How army has helped Museveni stay

January 26, 2016 By Africa Horn Now

 Tabu Butagira | Tuesday 26 January 2016 | THE MONITOR

Kampala- President Museveni is expected today to deliver a landmark speech to celebrate his 30 years in power, but unlike in 1986, more than half of the 35 million Ugandans he will be speaking to were not yet born when he seized state control.

With the defeat of 28 rebel groups and four election victories under his belt, the President will take to the rostrum in the western Fort Portal Town emboldened and with pride, but an enthusiasm diminished by tough re-election battle.

This could likely be Museveni’s last such anniversary if he loses next month’s vote, which is 23 days away, although he is pulling all strings to win and has made clear that he is going nowhere.

home01pix
President Museveni inspects a guard of honour during celebrations to mark 17th Anniversary of the UPDF at Bombo Barracks in1998. File photo

But the three key millstones that post-independence governments set out to sort – poverty, ignorance and disease – still persist, and a wide income disparity has meant dividends of a better-performing and expanded economy are not evenly shared.

Obsessed with statistics, the president’s speech is expected to detail economic, infrastructure and demographic data of the past, bench-marking all for comparison to 1986 to prove that the engine of Uganda’s progress has been roaring with him in the driver’s seat.

He, however, will say less about the future, not least the touchy power transition subject, which is where Ugandans yearn for clarity following a bloodied past where each leader since independence has been forced out of office.

Mr Museveni’s hold onto power has largely been predicated on a strong military, which, combined with its feats on regional assignments, has bolstered both Uganda’s and the president’s profile internationally.

The UPDF has helped stabilise Somalia, supported South Sudan’s secession and salvaged president Salva Kiir government from collapsing in 2013 while its precursor, the National Resistance Army, provided the seed rebel force that liberated Rwanda.

With a $10 billion fine for plunder of the neighbouring Zaire, now the DR Congo, pending before the International Court of Justice, the profit and loss account of Museveni’s leadership, even if only on the military front, will take years to calculate.

That the former rebel leader is marking 30 years in power is a feat in itself; particularly that this is a period six years more than the combined 24 years served by all his seven predecessors since independence in 1962.

Whereas Museveni will likely flag restoration of rule of law, building of state institutions, resuscitation of the economy, establishment of peace across Uganda and democratisation as his top gains, he will be saying so in the wake of political ping-pong where his former compatriots indict him for veering off the course of the original NRM agenda that justified the five-year guerilla war.

For a man who has hosted two Popes, seen off five United States presidents, two of whom he hosted in Uganda, and is now Africa’s fifth-longest serving president, the contrast with his inaugural speech blaming leaders who overstay in power could not be more telling.

Critics will say he has failed to solve what he once described as Uganda’s problem – leaders who overstay in power – but supporters will point to progress at home and a larger-than-life regional stature as justification for the long reign and a reason to celebrate.

Filed Under: AHN NEWS

Primary Sidebar

A New Administration Won’t Heal American Democracy

Published: November 6, 2020

The Rot in U.S. Political Institutions Runs Deeper Than Donald Trump Larry Diamond | November 5, 2020 | Foreign … [Read More...] about A New Administration Won’t Heal American Democracy

Archives

  • May 2021
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • June 2019
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • November 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • May 2014
  • March 2014

Log In

Copyright © 2025 Africa Horn Now · WordPress · Log in