Museveni’s Morality Quote Comes to Haunt Him after a Controversial Decision by His Party

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To quote Uganda President Yoweri Museveni from his autobiography, “The problem of Africa in general and Uganda in particular is not the people but leaders who want to overstay in power.”

Uganda’s ruling party has endorsed Museveni, 74, as its candidate in 2021 elections, which could see him seek re-election for a sixth term, a party resolution said Wednesday.

If he wins, which is obvious, he could be in office for 40 years, from 1986 to 2026.

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Museveni is the only president most Ugandans have known in a country where the median age is less than 16.

Young Ugandans have recently been energized by pop star-turned-MP Bobi Wine, who spearheaded protests against the age-limit amendment and has rapidly become a thorn in the government’s side.

Bobi Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, told CNN in an interview earlier this month that he was “seriously considering” running for president in 2021.

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“We believe that by the time we get to the election which is about two years away, we will have many Ugandans registered as voters and overwhelming Museveni looks like our only way out,” he said in the interview.

Kyagulanyi was charged with treason in August, along with more than 30 opposition politicians, over the alleged stoning of Museveni’s convoy after a campaign rally in the northwestern town of Arua

The National Resistance Movement (NRM) called for Museveni to “continue leading the movement and the state in 2021 and beyond to eliminate bottlenecks to transformation.

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The move comes after a bill was signed in December 2017 scrapping a presidential age limit of 75, which would have blocked Museveni from running again, sparking demonstrations and an outcry from the opposition which accused the president of seeking to rule for life.

The constitutional court in July last year ruled in favour of removing the limit. Last month Uganda’s Supreme Court began hearing a petition to challenge this decision.

Museveni, who seized power at the head of a rebel army in 1986, once said leaders who “overstayed” were the root of Africa’s problems.

However while running for a fifth term in 2016, he said it was not the right time for him to leave, as he still had work to do.

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