Museveni Sworn in Amid Worries Over Democracy

The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)

Mkinga Mkinga

12 May 2011

Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni was yesterday sworn in for the fifth time as the Head of State, at a colourful ceremony in Kampala, amid post-election tensions with the opposition.But as his supporters cheered and ululated, top political commentators in Dar es Salaam expressed concern over the state of democracy in Uganda, where opposition politicians have in the recent past been subjected to extreme violence and brutality.

Tanzanian scholars and political analysts said the recent events in Uganda have portrayed Mr Museveni, who waged a guerrilla war and seized power in 1986, as a new challenge to the democratisation process in the East African region that would have to be dealt with.

Speaking to The Citizen, the critics said the chaotic scenes in Uganda, where security forces had been clamping down on the opposition with excessive force, showed President Museveni, “as a person who will suppress democracy in the region”.

His failure to restore peace, especially in Karamoja, which is ravaged by cattle rustlers, was also cited as a challenge that Mr Museveni’s fellow East Africa Community (EAC) leaders should address.In Kampala, thousands of people, both the young and old, had thronged the Kololo ceremonial grounds to witness the swearing-in ceremony that was also attended by several African heads of state, including President Jakaya Kikwete, and diplomats.

“I, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, swear in the name of the almighty God that I shall peacefully exercise the functions of the president of Uganda and shall uphold, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution, and observe the laws of Uganda and that I shall promote the welfare of the people of Uganda,” he swore.

Chief Justice Benjamin Odoki presented the instruments of power, including the Constitution and the Court of Arms to Mr Museveni, who was given a 21-gun salute before he inspected a guard of honour mounted by the Armed Forces.

As Mr Museveni was being sworn in for his new five-year term, his key rival, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) leader, Dr Kizza Besigye, returned home to a tumultuous welcome by his supporters at Entebbe International Airport, following treatment in Kenya for injuries suffered in a brutal attack by plainclothes police in a Kampala street.

The 66-year-old Mr Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, took the oath before thousands of supporters and the leaders of several African countries, including Kenya, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

But in an interview with The Citizen in Dar es Salaam, a renowned political scientist, Prof Mwesiga Baregu, said President Museveni had been more militaristic than political.

“Museveni had been a warlord before he came to power. But in politics you can see him as a man against democracy, judging from the recent clamping down on his rival, Dr Besigye,” he said.Prof Baregu, who now teaches at the Dar Campus of St Augustine University of Tanzania (Saut), said: “His re-election presents a challenge to all EAC leaders to start thinking about the political future of Ugandans.”

For his part, a University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) political science lecturer, Dr Benson Bana, said Mr Museveni had initially played his part as a Ugandan patriot and one of the better leaders on the African continent.

However, he added, the Ugandan leader had overstayed, proving the assertion that “power corrupts and absolute power corrupt absolutely”.

He added: “President Museveni helped to bring harmony in his country and rebuild it from the ruins of his predecessors. He should now not leave a disintegrated Uganda.”

Dr Bana urged him to think of retiring soon.

“Mr Museveni has had time to prepare a successor to continue his legacy and champion what he stands for in terms of ideology and policies. Uganda is blessed with a lot of people who qualify to serve as head of state.”

Another UDSM lecturer, Dr Azaveli Lwaitama, noted that as Mr Museveni was taking his oath, only one of the eight opposition presidential candidates was there to witness the event.

“This shows that the others are not satisfied with what has happened… it should be a challenge to him (Mr Museveni) as well,” he said.

He also criticised the inauguration speech. “He never even once used words such as socialism and kept switching from English to Luganda, and didn’t speak Kiswahili. In spite of his army’s parade being conducted in Kiswahili, he talked of his NRM as being a party that subscribes to Pan Africanism,” Dr Lwaitama said.

He recalled that when he came to power in 1986, Mr Museveni was seen as one of a new breed of African leaders, including the late Thomas Sankara in Burkina Faso, who promoted grassroots democracy and criticised those who had overstayed in power.

“Today, he is one of the African leaders being criticised for overstaying in power, reneging on his promise.”

Dr Lwaitama said Mr Museveni’s dictatorial inclination risked cancelling out all the good things he had done for Uganda and Africa since when he was a member of the University of Dar es Salaam’s University Students African Revolutionary Front (USARF).

Speaking after being sworn in, President Museveni extolled the achievements of his National Resistance Movement (NRM) on the economy, education, roads and delivery of social services.

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