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Africa

Uganda’s Museveni looks to a fourth decade in power

– Military might –

Uganda’s intervention in Somalia has been more warmly welcomed with its troops forming the backbone of an African Union mission that has battled the Al Qaeda-linked militants of Shabaab since 2007.

The Somalia intervention – unlike those in Congo and South Sudan – has won Museveni favour with foreign donors who in return give him a pass when it comes to domestic oppression and corruption.

“His actions may not always be approved, but he has made Uganda a serious player in the region,” said Magnus Taylor, from the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank.

“While Uganda’s drift towards authoritarianism, coupled with the high-profile introduction of legislation to criminalise homosexuality and regulate the operational environment for NGOs may not win approval from Western actors, Museveni has embedded himself to the extent that the internationals accept his military contributions with one hand whilst wagging a censorious finger with the other,” Taylor said.

Museveni was born in Rwakitura in western Uganda to a cattle-herding family, with some opponents saying he is older than the 71 years he claims.

“If I lose election I shall leave power,” Museveni said in a recent interview. “I have got my job at home, I am a cattle keeper.”

Museveni specialises in rambling speeches peppered with folksy parables and military references that play better among poor – and poorly-educated – rural folk than among the urban population where the opposition finds its strongest support.

But Uganda remains a predominantly rural country, in both demography and economy, and Museveni’s popularity there is still high.

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