A presidential election will be occurring in Uganda this coming spring. A specific date, or even month, has yet to be set but there are signs everywhere reminding people to register to vote. The current president of 25 years, Museveni, will be running for reelection along with several to be determined opponents.
Mediocre is the best review I’ve heard of Museveni….sending the country downhill is more representative of most people’s current sentiment. While he implemented effective social and economic policies decades ago, most believe he is well past his prime and no longer benefiting the country. Despite this it seems no one thinks, or even hopes, he’ll be voted out of office.
Before Museveni, Uganda had two horrific presidents (Idi Amin and Obote… here’s a short overview http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Uganda). Each killed hundreds of thousands of their own citizens, eliminated any opposition, looted the economy, and fueled ethnic conflict for their own gains. While people openly acknowledge that Museveni being reelected will slow or even reverse development, at least it’s a known quantity of harm as opposed to the potential destruction of the unknown candidate. As Mr. C put at “At least we know what we’re getting even if it’s no good.”
In a country that seems to have endless love for Obama (apparently people went in mass to his family’s villages when he was elected) his campaign platform would never have worked here. While people strongly desire political change in the abstract, given their history the actual risk is way too great to go for it.
A 100% unrelated picture of goats...they're so photogenic!
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