At 81 years old, Yoweri Museveni has been sworn in for a seventh consecutive term as President of Uganda, extending his already historic grip on power that began when he seized Kampala as a rebel leader in 1986. The swearing-in ceremony, held at the Kololo Independence Grounds in the Ugandan capital on May 12, was declared a public holiday — a spectacle of national pageantry attended by several African heads of state, yet shadowed by allegations of electoral fraud, deadly post-election repression, and the exile of the principal opposition figure.
A Landslide Victory Questioned
Museveni was declared the winner of January’s presidential election with more than 70 percent of the vote, a result that handed him another five-year term extending his rule to 2031. His principal rival, pop star-turned-politician Bobi Wine, rejected the outcome outright, denouncing the vote as systematically rigged through what he called ballot-stuffing. Uganda’s election officials denied the allegations, insisting the process was free and fair.
The aftermath of the disputed vote proved violent. According to Amnesty International, at least 16 people were killed by military and police forces between January 15 and 18 — reportedly while unarmed and posing no imminent threat. Security forces launched raids on Bobi Wine’s residence, sending the opposition leader into hiding before he fled the country altogether. He has since said he left because the regime wanted to eliminate me.
Bobi Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, now faces his future from abroad. He has urged Ugandans to resist what he described as a stolen democracy. Museveni’s government has accused the opposition of seeking to overturn the election results through violence and has labelled its critics terrorists.
A Generation That Knows No Other Leader
For millions of Ugandans born after 1986, Museveni is the only president they have ever known. Uganda has one of the world’s youngest populations, and his longevity in office places him among a small group of African leaders — including Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo-Brazzaville, Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea, and Paul Biya of Cameroon — who have governed their nations for four decades or more.
In his inaugural address, Museveni signalled no intention to slow down. This term should be regarded as a time for no more sleep for all Ugandans, he told the crowd, framing the next five years as a period for wealth creation, job generation, and building on infrastructure gains achieved during his four decades in power.
The Succession Question Grows Louder
Museveni has never publicly indicated when he intends to retire, but analysts widely regard this as likely his final term. His 51-year-old son, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, currently serves as Chief of Defence Forces and has been widely tipped as the anointed successor. Earlier this year, Kainerugaba used social media to threaten to have Bobi Wine’s testicles removed — a post that sparked widespread condemnation before being deleted.
The government’s recent passage of the Sovereignty Bill, criminalising actions deemed to promote the interests of a foreigner against those of Uganda, has raised further concerns among rights groups, who say it is designed to silence civil society and strangle opposition funding.
The International Dimension
Regional leaders who attended the ceremony included Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Felix Tshisekedi, South Sudan’s Salva Kiir, and Somalia’s Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. Their presence offered Museveni a veneer of continental legitimacy even as Western governments and human rights organisations condemned the post-election crackdown.
Also still unresolved is the case of Kizza Besigye, another prominent opposition figure who was abducted while visiting Kenya in late 2024 and forcibly returned to Uganda. He remains detained in a military court on charges he denies.
Museveni’s seventh term begins with Uganda facing familiar questions about democratic accountability, human rights, and the absence of any credible transition plan. For a country with enormous economic potential and a youthful, restless population, the political horizon remains firmly closed.