Uganda Politics

In just a couple of days, Angie will meet me in Brussels, Belgium and we will fly to Uganda together to see the kids!  In the meantime, I'm following the political events in Uganda very closely.  For those who are interested, here's a brief history of recent Uganda politics.

Yoweri Museveni participated in the rebellion that overthrew Ida Amin in 1979 but was dissatisfied with the resulting leader, Milton Obote.  He then led a rebel army in the "bush wars" and was able to assume power of Uganda in 1986.  Since that time he has provided a "relative" level of stability and peace that Uganda had not expericed for a long time. 

Yoweri Museveni - Wikipedia

The word "relative" is used since there has been a long term battle with rebels called the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in northern Uganda led by Joseph Kony.  This group was responsible for terrorizing villages, raping young girls and forcing young boys to be soldiers.  The LRA operated for a while in Amuria, the home district of the kids' family.  As a result, people in the countryside were forced to live in IDP (internally displaced persons) camps run by the U.N. to keep them safe from the LRA.  This arrangement led to a spike in HIV cases among the population since there were many non-relatives residing in a camp together.  The government has had success in the last few years of reducing the LRA strength and forcing them out of Uganda.

According to the Uganda constitution, there are term limits for the presidency but Museveni has sidestepped these rules claiming that earlier terms don't count since the constitution wasn't complete or claiming other loopholes.  The main oppositiion leader to Museveni the past two elections has been his former doctor and fellow rebel, Colonel Kizza Besigye.  In 2006, Besigye had his best showing but lost to Museveni 60%-40% in an election marked by accusations of voting fraud.  Additionally, Besigye was arrested and put in jail for much of the campaign period and there was substantial violence during and after the election.

This election period has been quite different in that there has been calm and peace during the campaigning.  Besigye has tried to bait the government into arresting him by making some controversial and accusatory claims against the goverment.  So far, the government has shown restraint and has left him alone which has helped keep the peace.  There have been accusations that Museveni has spent government money to effectively buy the vote this time around.

The people of Uganda will decide this Friday who their next president will be as well as their local and parliament leaders.  Most polls suggest that Museveni will easily win this time, but some have claimed the polls are biased toward the incumbent.  Below are some links that I'm following and will continue to follow to make sure we know exactly what the situation is in Uganda. 

OrbitUganda.com - Uganda News
New Vision Uganda Newspaper
U.S. Embassy in Kampala - Warden Messages

Thanks for all your prayers and concerns, we'll use common sense and stay away from any dangerous situations.  We plan on staying at a hotel near the airport the first night, since the election results will be announced shortly before we land in Entebbe.  If all looks calm, we'll move to our hotel in Kampala which is just down the street from the U.S. embassy.