Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni abandoning his original notions of
leadership and potentially priming first son for leadership
June 5, 2013 at 9:58 am in World
RYOT NOTE
By Rodney Muhumuza, Associated Press
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Uganda’s president came to power in 1986 as an
idealistic former Marxist rebel who denounced power-hungry African
leaders. Nearly three decades later, President Yoweri Museveni is now
accused by some in the opposition — and others who served prominently
under him — of becoming the type of politician he once despised.
Museveni travels the world in a private jet paid for by taxpayers and
recently added two new Mercedes Benz limousines to his convoy. Some
say he wants to rule for life, while others worry that Museveni, in
the style of some other African strongmen, is trying to groom his son
as the country’s future leader. That charge was given credence by the
defection last month of an army general who urged an investigation
into reports of an alleged plot for the first son to succeed his
father.
Gen. David Sejusa, who is in London and faces arrest if he returns to
Uganda, says he is fighting the use of state institutions such as the
military to keep Museveni in power. Sejusa is a member of the army’s
high command and a decorated hero of the bush war that brought
Museveni to power. His case has focused attention on the political
evolution of a president who promised many years ago that his
government would bring what he called “fundamental change” to Uganda.
“The problem of Africa in general and Uganda in particular,” Museveni
said in a speech in 1986, “is not the people but leaders who want to
overstay in power.”
In “What is Africa’s Problem?” — a collection of Museveni’s early
speeches as president — he warns against official corruption, saying:
“How can we hope to convince anyone of the rightness of our cause if
our own people are violating our stated goals, thereby undermining our
program? Corruption is a problem which, if not checked, will hinder
progress in all sectors of society.”
Museveni said at the time that he despised African leaders who wasted
taxpayer money on things like luxury cars and he urged public
officials to “realize that social property is, in many ways, even more
important than private property.”
In 1996, a year after the promulgation of Uganda’s constitution, the
country held national elections widely praised as free and fair,
boosting Museveni’s growing reputation with Western donors as a
reform-minded progressive leader. In 1998, while traveling in Africa,
former U.S. President Bill Clinton put Museveni in the club of what he
said was a “new breed” of African leader.
But some critics now say it’s tough to imagine Museveni giving a
passionate speech on corruption.
“I think Museveni’s determined to stay in power at all costs,” said
Mwambutsya Ndebesa, a professor of political history at Uganda’s
Makerere University. “He genuinely believes that he’s the only one
with the vision to run this county. Is this project sustainable? My
answer is no. If he doesn’t change this position he’s taking this
country to the cliff.”
Museveni, who is in his late 60s, has now held power in Uganda for 27
years, making him one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders. In 2005 he
had lawmakers remove term limits so could run again. He has won two
elections marred by irregularities or violence since then.
Frank Tumwebaze, a government minister who speaks for the president,
said Museveni’s early criticism of long-serving leaders had been taken
out of context by activists who fail to acknowledge that elections are
held regularly in Uganda.
“For us as (the ruling party), we are convinced that if we front
Museveni in 2016 he will give us better winning chances than any other
person,” he said. “Museveni has been winning elections. We know where
he is popular and why he is popular.”
Museveni, who was last re-elected in 2011, is praised by many here for
presiding over a growing economy and restoring political stability
after years of dictatorial rule. That view, however, is being disputed
by some who say he has slowly transformed Uganda into a quasi-military
state.
Human Rights Watch, which says the government increasingly harasses
civic groups, accused Uganda’s security forces of “using lethal force”
to quell anti-corruption riots on the streets of Kampala in April
2011. At least nine people were killed.
“Uganda has had militarism for quite a bit of time,” said Frederick
Jjuuko, a political activist and law professor at Uganda’s Makerere
University. “But it is this regime that has perfected it. It handles
matters political using military means.”
As an example, Jjuuko cited the seizure last month of Uganda’s Daily
Monitor newspaper by security officials looking for evidence against
Sejusa, whose concerns about an alleged plot to assassinate officials
opposed to the rise Museveni’s son had been published by the
newspaper. The daily’s printing press was disabled for 10 days.
A government minister said the authorities allowed the newspaper to
resume operations after its bosses agreed that security stories are “a
no-go area” for its reporters.
Uganda is set to become a major oil producer by 2016, when elections
are due. Many here believe Museveni will seek another five-year term
in office. Some analysts say the country’s unpredictable political
transition threatens the oil sector even before the first drops of oil
flow, with Museveni exercising tight control of it.
Sejusa charges that Museveni is plotting to keep power within his
family — the same allegations made over the years by opposition leader
Kizza Besigye, a retired army colonel who fell out with Museveni over
what he said was the president’s rejection of the ideals for which
they fought a guerrilla war.
“Typical African story,” Sejusa said in an email to The Associated Press.
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