
“Because the politics of the past have been politics about intrigue, about subterfuge, this has been the politics of the past. This politics has not concerned the population. It has been about job-seeking on the part of the politicians. But now for the first time, we are going to talk about the population, their life, their political rights, their economic interests. That will be the centre of gravity of what we are doing” – President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni (TV Interview in 1986)
Today is one of those days where I wonder if history will ever catch up to Yoweri Tibuhurwa Kaguta Museveni. The man who re-invent himself ahead of any election. The sort of man that changes to whatever there is. A man that is willing to give up everything for the inch power and prestige. The man that doesn’t dwell on the circumstances, but swiftly regroup to get ahead. That’s all he does and this is why his tone changed over the years.
First part of his reign. He wanted to be seen as the new breed. The one you could count on for political changes, transform society and give hope for a better future. However, with time that was a smoke-screen to keep himself in power and by enough time to avoid any sort of accountability for his actions. Since, he has distorted, disrupted and ensured total control. That’s why Presidential Directives and letters matters more than legislation now. This is why his a sole-President without the burden of transparency or even checks-and-balances. He is just ruling supreme, the dictator and the man who uses vicious means to get ahead.
Secondly, Museveni knows perfectly everything ill with the previous regime. He even stated that in his first speech as well after taking power in 1986:
“There is, in philosophy, something called obscurantism, a phenomenon where ideas are deliberately obscured so that what is false appears to be true and vice versa. We in the NRM are not interested in the politics of obscurantism: we want to get to the heart of the matter and find out what the problem is. Being a leader is like being a medical doctor. A medical doctor must diagnose his patient’s disease before he can prescribe treatment. Similarly, a political leader must diagnose correctly the ills of society. A doctor who does not diagnose his patient’s disease adequately is nothing but a quack. In politics we have also got quacks – and Uganda has had a lot of political quacks over the past two decades or so. I also want to talk about co-operation with other countries, especially in our region. One of our weaknesses in Africa is a small market because we don’t have enough people to consume what we produce” (Museveni, 26.01.1986).
Thirdly, he even wrote this in an article in 1985:
“We are convinced that some of the post-independent African leaders are the ones that are just hopelessly out of depth and have got to look for scapegoats. Africa, since independence, has been tossed between, on the one hand idiotic quislings that are mere ‘caricatures’ of the worst aspects of the European middle class and, on the other hand, muddle-headed ‘revolutionary’ ideologies of Fabians, murderers and a variety of other opportunists, who spent more time putting people in preventive detention, when they are not murdering them … That is why African independence has almost begun to look as if it is a non-viable proposition” (Yoweri Museveni, Selected Articles on the Uganda Resistance War, 1985).
When you read these texts and quotes from Museveni in the past. You see that he knew what was wrong in the past. However, for him to stay in power and be in office for all these years. He has done exactly the same himself. His used these vicious means to stay and never leave.
It is just so striking after all these years. Museveni has backtracked… and become the same as he fought against. All the things he has used to describe the predecessors can be used on himself. Everything he has pinned on someone… can be said about him now.
After over 36 years in office he has turned into the leaders he didn’t respect or did rebuke in past. The man in the bush and after taking power… he promised a fundamental change. Nevertheless the “No Change” slogan of the past… is his true testament and what he has served the public.
The misuse of power, injustice and impunity which is what he is known for now. If you read these things today. It is so easily to pin it on Museveni. He is the epitome of the leaders he despised. The rhetoric and message that he used. Can now be used about him. Just the thought of this… shows how far he fell and how power corrupts. He wanted this and he thrives on it.
All the pieces of the puzzle fits Museveni. It is all him. He should know this, but clearly he will deflect this. If people remind him of older statements. He will say the times has changed and it isn’t important. At this very moment and time… he would have gone to the bush to fight himself. Museveni would have had tried to do a coup d’etat to get rid of this leadership. That’s what is so striking in 2022. Peace.









