President Yoweri Museveni was on Saturday officially declared
winner of Uganda's first multiparty elections in more than 20
years, but the emergence of a stronger opposition in the polls,
coupled with Museveni's row with the West, has placed him in a hot
seat for now.
Stronger opposition
Museveni has collected 59 percent of the over 7 million votes
cast in Thursday's general elections, with his main rival, Kizza
Besigye of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) receiving 37.36
percent, an outcome very similar to what was expected.
The result will see Museveni's two decades of power extending to
a quarter of a century, but has also demonstrated the strength and
popularity of the opposition.
Things didn't go smooth from the very beginning. A July 2005
referendum on the multiparty system decided on the return of
multiparty politics, but was decried by the opposition as an "
empty gesture" intended to cement Museveni's hold on power. A
constitutional amendment allowing Museveni to seek further terms in
office didn't help to appease such suspicion.
According to the 1995 Constitution, any elected president has
only a maximum of two terms in office. Museveni was reelected in
2001 and his second term expires in 2006.
The prospect of a life president had led to several protests,
which triggered clashes between protesters and police.
October 2005 saw the return of Museveni's main rival Kizza
Besigye, who was sure to be Museveni's top challenger in the
elections, from four years of self-imposed exile in South Africa.
But the elation surrounding his return soon turned sour when he was
arrested and charged with treason and rape just three weeks back in
the country.
Critics said Museveni may have been surprised by the warm public
welcome Besigye received, and said his prosecution is evidence of
the president's increasingly "autocratic" rule, further damaging
Uganda's newly strained relations with the West.
Besigye enjoys greater support in urban areas than Museveni
does. Many city dwellers said they want change in the way the
country is run.
"I am not happy of the way our country is running. I don't think
a country with a leader for life will be a democratic country.
That's the prime reason I will not vote for the incumbent
president," said Paul Kiryowa, an IT engineer in the capital
Kampala, before the election day.
'Model country' at crossraods
Widely acclaimed in international and development circles for
its economic recovery and sustained growth under Museveni since the
troubled days of both Obote and Idi Amin, Uganda is often referred
to as an African success story, despite a brutal insurgency in the
north that has rumbled on for just about as long as Museveni has
been in power.
Museveni -- who seized power in 1986 after a five-year guerrilla
war -- was once a darling of the international donor community,
described by former US president Bill Clinton as the head of a new
breed of African leaders who will transform the continent to shed
its image of poverty, disease and war.
But events took place last year has triggered a fall out. Some
western donors have cut portions of aid to show their disapproval
of the political situation in the country.
In April last year, Britain, Uganda's former colonial master,
announced it was withholding some US$9.5 million in budget support
due to concerns about Uganda's democratization.
The decision of western donors to cut aid came after an economic
and governance assessment raised concerns over the Ugandan
government's commitment to the independence of the Judiciary, press
freedom and freedom of association following the arrest of
opposition leader Kizza Besigye.
In the face of criticism, Museveni stood firm, saying that his
political opponent must face justice to the letter of law.
Budget supports cuts to Uganda now amount to US$73 million. The
Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish and British governments are some of the
Western countries that have cut budget support to Uganda over
governance issues.
The Ugandan government has vowed to move on despite mounting
pressure from donor countries on what political path the country
should take as it goes through a political transition.
However, this puts the east African country in a tricky
situation, for like many African countries, almost half of the
government budget is supported by donors.
Questions abound
Opposition and donors are not the only problems the president is
facing. To bring about development is surely a priority if Museveni
is to satisfy his voters.
Bestowed with substantial natural resources, Uganda remains one
of the poorest countries in the world, and a severe power shortage
it is currently experiencing revealed the country's energy supply
problem.
Museveni has promised to address the problem with the
construction of power dams and other stop-gap measures. But there
are concerns about whether the government can get enough funds for
these programs.
The president himself has pointed fingers elsewhere. In his last
campaign address before the elections, Museveni said the current
shortage of electricity was brought about by opposition MPs who
sabotaged construction of power dams. He also mentioned foreign
interference as another factor that contributed to the power
shortage.
He said that the government has decided to exercise sovereignty
in decision making concerning security, electricity and road
construction because outside interference has for long hampered
progress in these programs.
Apart from these concerns, there are also other problems
challenging the Ugandan government, such as dissatisfaction with
high taxes.
Paul Kiryowa, an IT engineer in the capital Kampala, said one
reason he wouldn't vote for Museveni is "too much taxes. As a
middle-class, I have to set aside over 25 percent of my salary for
taxes, that's too much. That makes Ugandans feel living is more and
more difficult."
But with its current row with donors, the government, which
relies heavily on aid, has its own problems to make ends meet,
while at the same time bring growth. Though he has to fight to be
on it, the newly re-elected President Yoweri Museveni is certainly
sitting on a hot seat.
(Xinhua News Agency February 27, 2006)
