BREAKING NEWS
UGANDA: Succession Battle Is Silent but Punchy
UGANDA’S REAL OPPOSITION IS MUSEVENI’S FAMILY
Yoweri Museveni has ruled Uganda since 1986. He is 81. He just started a seventh term.
The question is no longer whether he will leave power. It is who in his family takes it.
His son, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, is the Chief of Defence Forces.
He has 1.2 million followers on X. He posts about arresting people like he is live-tweeting a video game.
In September, Muhoozi publicly threatened to arrest his own brother-in-law, Odrek Rwabwogo, over corruption claims.
That was not a family quarrel. That was a succession battle.
One camp backs Muhoozi. Another backs Rwabwogo. The First Lady is closer to Rwabwogo. Museveni’s brother backs Muhoozi.
The traditional opposition has been crushed.
Kizza Besigye is in prison. Bobi Wine fled into exile. Their lawyer, Erias Lukwago, was arrested in June and held for over 48 hours.
Muhoozi posted that he had captured him and taken him to his basement.
The UN says at least 50 opposition leaders, five human rights defenders and five journalists have been targeted since the January election. Ten civil society groups suspended.
The economy looks stable on paper. Inflation is under 4 percent.
But public debt has hit 52 percent of GDP. Interest payments eat 32 percent of domestic revenue. Twenty-seven major infrastructure projects have been suspended.
In Busoga, people live without electricity despite hosting Uganda’s largest dams. Rural electrification is 9.1 percent. Clinics cannot sterilise equipment. Children study by candlelight.
Half the population lives on less than three dollars a day.
This is not a democracy with a succession problem. It is a family business with a country attached.
When the only real contest for power is between a son and a son-in-law, what exactly is left for Ugandans to vote for.
– AsaliNews