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NAIROBI, Kenya – A bloody and controversial election season in Uganda, in which dozens of people were killed and the main opposition candidate was de facto under house arrest, recently gave the President a sixth five-year term in office. President Yoweri Museveni, a dedicated US military ally.
But now the US State Department says it is considering a series of actions against Mr Museveni, who, since taking office in 1986, has been among the top recipients of US aid in Africa, taking billions dollars even as he tightened his iron grip on the nation.
Mr. Museveni, 76, has suppressed opposing voices for years, often by force, and the campaign leading up to this month’s election has been marred by intimidation of opposition candidates and their staff, in particular Bobi Wine, a pop star turned lawmaker who has become the president’s toughest challenger. Violence rocked the country during the campaign, and election observers and opposition figures claim electoral fraud contributed to Mr. Museveni’s re-election.
“We are very concerned about the recent elections in Uganda,” a State Department official said in an emailed statement to The New York Times. “The United States has made it clear that we will consider a range of targeted options, including the imposition of visa restrictions, for Ugandans found responsible for election-related violence or for undermining the democratic process.”
The “behavior of the Ugandan authorities during these elections,” the statement read, “is a factor that will be taken into account when making decisions about future US aid.
Other nations also expressed concern about the unfolding of the post-election period in Uganda. A spokesperson for the European Union said the bloc was “gravely concerned about the continued harassment of political actors and parts of civil society” and continued to “remain attentive to the situation on the ground”.
Mr. Museveni has would have met foreign diplomats in recent days, as concerns mounted about the conduct of the vote, and many Western and African partners have yet to officially congratulate him. The Kenyan presidency deleted a post on Facebook congratulating him after being widely criticized and Facebook falsely flagged it as containing “false” information.
Before, during and after the vote, journalists and independent observers were not required to closely follow the proceedings, and the government denied accreditation to most of the observers that the US mission in Uganda intended. to deploy. A nationwide Internet shutdown limited the flow of information.
As the election results rolled in, authorities surrounded Mr Wine’s home, refused to let him out and even prevented the US ambassador from visiting him. Security guards withdrew from his home this week after a court ruling, but they continue to maintain roadblocks nearby and surround his party headquarters. Mr Wine, 38, real name Robert Kyagulanyi, claims the election was rigged in favor of Mr Museveni and plans to present evidence in court on Monday to challenge the results.
For decades, Mr. Museveni has received financial and diplomatic support from the United States and other Western countries. And he promoted his regime as a guarantor of stability not only in Uganda – which was torn apart by coups and violence before assuming leadership – but also in the surrounding regions of East and Central Africa.
Yet under him, Uganda has repeatedly sent troops across its borders to take sides in conflicts in neighboring countries. And although Mr. Museveni has taken in many refugees from South Sudan, independent researchers have reported that his government smuggled weapons used to stoke war there, which claimed the lives of nearly 400,000 people.
“He has been the arsonist of the region since coming to power, be it Sudan, South Sudan or Rwanda or the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” said Helen Epstein, author of ” Another Fine Mess: America, Uganda and the War on Terror. “” His army intervened everywhere, to the detriment of peace. “
Each year, the United States alone provides more than $ 970 million to Uganda, supporting the military, education and agriculture sectors, and antiretroviral treatment for nearly one million HIV-positive Ugandans.
Uganda in turn has partnered with the United States in the fight against terrorism, deploying more than 6,200 troops to the African Union mission in Somalia which is fighting the group linked to Qaeda al-Shabab. Thousands of Ugandans served as guards at US bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. And Uganda has been hailed as one of the best places to be a refugee, with asylum seekers given land and the ability to work and move.
But while Mr. Museveni continued to curry favor with the West and receive support from financial institutions like the World Bank, his government “took advantage of these resources and these positive images to undermine the very interests that ‘he is praised for safeguarding and for pursuing his own. instead, ”said Michael Mutyaba, an independent Ugandan politics researcher.
At home, Museveni has been criticized for cracking down on the opposition, introducing anti-gay legislation and unleashing security forces against civilians. Waves of scandals have also shown how officials embezzled millions of dollars in government funds, as well as reports of misappropriation of development aid into the military.
If so, it would undermine the reputation Mr. Museveni has cultivated as an older statesman in East Africa, said Angelo Izama, a Ugandan political analyst.
“If he continues to deal these bodily blows to his reputation at home,” Mr. Izama said, “I think he will lose his reputation not only in the region, but also gradually the Western powers which are growing. more determined to align and change their way of dealing with Uganda.
But Ken O. Opalo, assistant professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, said that while donor relations with Uganda may change, it remains to be seen whether those changes will be substantial.
Western countries, he said, have almost always been wrong to maintain their relations with Mr Museveni’s government instead of pushing it to introduce much-needed reforms.
“Museveni knows about this inconstancy and has exploited it brilliantly over the years,” said Opalo.
And while “the Biden administration will say the right things,” Mr Opalo said he was “less optimistic about what it will be able to do and whether such action would necessarily lead to change for the better in Uganda ”.
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