Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni confirmed Saturday that he intends to run for a seventh time period in subsequent yr’s presidential election. The 80-year-old chief has been in energy since 1986, and his ruling Nationwide Resistance Motion, or NRM, get together has already altered the nation’s structure twice to permit Museveni to increase his rule. (AP)
Our Take
Given Museveni’s grip on energy in Uganda, his announcement Saturday is tantamount to a self-appointment to a different time period. Over the course of his greater than 4 a long time in energy, Museveni has repeatedly co-opted or eradicated any viable democratic opposition, maintained a good grip on the media and narrowed area for civil society.
He did face an unprecedented problem to his rule within the 2021 presidential election, after the popstar-turned-politician Bobi Wine galvanized a brand new political motion fueled by resentment amongst younger individuals who don’t maintain Museveni’s legacy in the identical regard as do older generations, who have been alive when he helped topple former dictator Idi Amin. Sensing the risk that Wine posed, Museveni ramped up repression of the opposition forward of that vote and thereafter. Since then, the violence has reached new heights, with widespread extrajudicial killings, abductions and torture of political activists by Museveni’s safety forces.
