Musaazi NAMITI | Voice of the Moment
Hours after he had been sworn in at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds in May 1996, President Yoweri Museveni addressed a news conference at the International Conference Centre, which was attended by local and international media.
A Japanese journalist stood up and told the president he had seen John Garang, who led the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army, on the balcony of the Nile Hotel, just a stone’s throw from where the news conference was held.
Mr Museveni said he was not aware of the presence of Mr Garang, adding—to the amusement of the journalists present—that: “If you have seen him, then you have sharper eyes.”
Thirty years later, Uganda remains South Sudan’s major military ally, and one of the first foreign dignitaries to arrive for today’s inauguration was South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir. Uganda often deploys troops in support of the conflict-battered country Garang never lived to lead.
The new breed
In 1996, Mr Museveni was still selling himself as a liberator. He had ruled unelected for 10 years but was promising democratic rule. His government had promulgated a new constitution a year before the election. The country was relatively peaceful, although the Lord’s Resistance Army was wreaking havoc in the north—and months after his inauguration, the Allied Democratic Forces in the east also launched a rebellion.
Mr Museveni’s new five-year term will extend his rule to 45 years, making him one of Africa’s longest-serving rulers after Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who seized power in 1979, and Paul Biya, who became president in 1982.
His son, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who heads the army, is widely seen as his potential successor, and the state machinery is deeply personalised around him.
Region transformed
A lot has changed in 30 years in Uganda and the wider region. But the presidency remains intact. Sudan was one country when Mr Museveni won his first election in 1996. South Sudan seceded from Sudan in 2011. The Democratic Republic of the Congo was still ruled by Mobutu Sese Seko. It has since had three presidents: Laurent Kabila, Joseph Kabila and Felix Tshisekedi. The East African Community was only starting to be revived. Today it has seven members. Mobile phones had just made entry, and the internet barely existed in Uganda.
Different reality
Mr Museveni spoke of stability, national unity, democracy, development and no return to chaos. These phrases have been repeated over the years. But the situation on the ground paints a different picture.
His main challenger in the 1996 election, Paul Ssemogerere, complained about irregularities. But there was no clear evidence that Mr Museveni won because of rigging. In fact, Mr Ssemogerere did not even win in his own constituency, indicating that Mr Museveni had solid support.
The January 15 election and the one before it were different. Mr Museveni’s main challenger, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, lost supporters, several of them killed by security forces. Many others have been detained illegally for close to five years.
A harder state
In 30 years, Uganda has succeeded in stabilising one man’s rule while also entrenching repression, which is one reason Bobi Wine and his family fled the country after the January 15 election.
The Movement system ended in a referendum nine years after Mr Museveni’s inauguration in 1996. But multiparty politics has left Ugandans with the same president they have had since 1986.
From hope to habit
I was in the room where Mr Museveni brushed away the journalist’s question. He probably did not know he would still be in power in 2026.
In 1996, he was described as part of the “new breed of African leaders”. Bill Clinton, visiting as US president in March 1998, called Mr Museveni a “beacon of hope”. He wowed world leaders.
In 2026, many struggle to believe he is still president.
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