Can Uganda's Museveni be defeated?

The four times aspiring candidate and the Forum for Democratic Change founder Dr. Kiiza Besigye and people power star Bobi Wine are putting up a challenge to form a united league to defeat the old Sevo. But will it work?

The new coalition is not a done deal yet, as there is a chance that internal divisions in the Forum for Democratic Change caused by Gen. Muntu could derail the talks. But in the international arena, political leaders, media and markets have shown strong signs of supporting Hon. Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine as Uganda’s next president.

This emerging alliance is driven less by ideological compatibility than the need to avoid another loss as it happened in 2016 when the NRM strong hold and longtime cabinet Minister Hon. Amama Mbabazi under TDA and Go forward ended up losing badly.

Recent opinion polls show that Bobi Wines ratings have gone up, and so has star vote more especially in Central Uganda with capital city, and majority of his supporters being youth.

Structures of violence and corruption of Museveni and his family will remain in place and subvert the country's democratic struggle; therefore Ugandans have to get prepared early enough so that even if he is gone his regime will also go with bad things and making sure that difficulties should not be used as an excuse to new government.

If opposition leaders do not soon acknowledge the failure of the Museveni’s military approach in the great lakes region and invite area leaders in the negotiating table, their leadership will fall in trap of conflicts they know nothing about.

Some opposition leaders have openly opposed scientific elections which were proposed by Electro commission that made a decision after meeting President Museveni, and others went on to criticize parliamentary legal committee for signing to endorse the move.

Opposition politicians have demanded a more prominent role in resolving the impasse, arguing that consulting parliament is insufficient because most lawmakers support the governing party. (NRM)

Days after Fitch ratings singled out Uganda as one of the countries likely to slide into debt distress because of its excessive borrowing, the country’s central bank has now announced that the country is not in position to pay its debts “unless a miracle happens”.

In a recent interview with the media, Bank of Uganda Executive Director for Research Dr. Adam Mugume revealed that Uganda has no money to pay its public debt. Mugume, quoted in WatchdoUg, a Kampala website, was very categorical in his remarks, saying: “We are only assuming now that either we have the oil revenue coming on board or we go and ask for debt forgiveness or we default,” he said.
“Apart from these three options, I don’t see how we shall repay our debts.”

Uganda has been mortgaging its oil for these loans. However, informed commentators aren’t sure it is still even owned by Uganda. “They have already been ferrying away the oil, clandestinely and in trucks; the regime of “untouchables” already received and ate the money,” said Presidential hopeful Joseph Kabuleta in a video widely shared on YouTube. “So, you cannot rely on that oil to pay off the nation’s debts,”

In a related development, the June 2020 Monetary Policy Report that was released early this week by BoU indicates that “external debt continues to be the dominant component of public debt, accounting for 68.4 percent, while domestic debt accounts for 31.6 percent. Although most of the external debt is from multilateral creditors, there has been a significant increase in semi-and non-concessional borrowing, in part reflecting increased borrowing from bilateral lenders.”

“Uganda’s problem is that ‘the eaters’ are eating recklessly like there is no tomorrow,” Kabuleta, who has recently announced he is contesting the 2021 presidential elections, said. “The eaters’ are old now, but they show zero concern for the young of today,” he added. “Their only concern is to keep amassing personal wealth, and when they borrow more so as to have more to steal, they are looting the future of the children!”

All the above issue are supposed to be key concerns to remove the sleepy Museveni.