Museveni’s brand atrophy

How the president has lost connection with young people in Uganda and why nothing can be done about it

THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Cederic Babu Ndilima is a son of Francis Babu. Both are NRM and President Yoweri Museveni diehards. Babu Sr was an NRM MP and also a minister in the Museveni government. Cederic is a close friend of Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba. He was NRM candidate for Kampala Central in the 2021 elections. Cederic’s ex-wife, Allison, is a patriotic Irish-Ugandan and a strong supporter of the MK Movement. Cederic’s mother, Olive Kigongo, is married to NRM’s long serving national vice chairman, Al Haji Moses Kigongo.

Cederic’s eldest son, Amani, is a tall handsome lad of 17 years. He studies and plays basketball in the USA. But he is also a regular visitor to Kenya and Rwanda during his holidays in Uganda. And he has lived in Kampala for most of his life. Towards the end of last year, he came to see me. In a conversation that left me embarrassed and ashamed, he launched into a powerful indictment of Kampala particularly and Uganda generally.

“Uncle Andrew” he said, “What is the problem with Uganda. How can Kampala look this horrible – the only change I have witnessed during my lifetime is that it is getting worse. The city is dirty, the roads are filled with potholes and the buildings are all murky. And yet around me are the ones in power or close to power. What are you guys doing? Do you see yourselves as part of the problem or the solution?” I had no answer.

In a conversation that lasted a little less than 20 minutes, I was able to see how Museveni personally and his entire government generally is disarticulated from the aspirations of educated Ugandans, especially young ones. I have used Amani’s example to illustrate an important point: that the loss of trust in government is not limited to those we see as the “opposition.” Even children born to NRM parents and NRM grandparents who occupy the highest positions in the party and have close relations with the president and his family members have lost faith in the government.

I deal with many young people aged 18 to 30 years. They represent 24% of Uganda’s population, 33% of adults. It is rare to find anyone in this age group who feels the current government represents their aspirations. Young people are job searching, or in schools and spend a significant share of their time in sports and entertainment. In all these spheres of their lives, there is nowhere Museveni interacts with them to reflect their shared experiences. So, they have no way of connecting with him emotionally. His lectures of patriotism, on pan Africanism etc. do not connect to their lives.

Towards the end of last year, two events happened in Kigali that showed a marked difference between Rwanda and Uganda. Rwanda hosted the Basketball Africa League (BAL) finals. And in December, it hosted a show by American rapper, Kendrick Lammar. Both events were hosted in “The Arena” – an ultra-modern sports stadium in Kigali. President Paul Kagame attended both and gave a speech. I could clearly see so many young Rwandans connected with him emotionally. This is because he identified with their life’s experiences in entertainment and sports. He spoke at each of these occasions for not more than five minutes. But one could feel the love and admiration young Rwandans have of their president.

Kagame’s connection with Rwandans through entertainment and sports reminded me of Nelson Mandela’s involvement with rugby in South Africa which made a popular movie, Invictus. Mandela, then in his late 70s personally invited the captain of the Springboks for breakfast, visited the players in training and attended the matches himself. By associating with a sport many white South Africans were attached to, Mandela sent a message to them of the new non-racial nation he was trying to shape. But it also connected him to young black South Africans. Clearly, it is not his age (now 79 years) that stops Museveni from connecting with young people but rather his detachment from their lives. There is nothing or little Museveni does that identifies with them.

This brings me back to Amani’s frustration. It is not necessarily the case that Museveni and his government have not invested in infrastructure. As I have written before and said elsewhere, Uganda’s infrastructure generally is not bad especially when compared to its per capita public revenue and per capital public spending. Many of the major trunk roads are in good motorable condition. One can drive from Kampala to any border point on smooth paved roads. Except for the roads from Karuma to Arua and from Mityana to Kyenjojo and from Masaka to Mutukula, Uganda’s national trunk roads are very good. In some places we have smooth tarmac roads where few motor vehicles travel – like the road from Moroto to Nakapiripit.

Therefore, an argument can be made that Uganda’s problem is not so much the substance of infrastructure investments in the country but the form it has taken. Kampala is the capital city of Uganda where our nation’s most enlightened and articulated citizens live. It is also the place where the overwhelming majority of international visitors land before they visit the rest of the country. The first impression of this city is actually a horror show. It is hard to visit or live in this city and feel that government has a plan for the country. There is hardly a public space or infrastructure that gives hope to anyone that there is a future for the country.

Even the most ardent supporters of the president feel he has lost it. This is not necessarily because he is doing less, which is also the case. It is largely because there is little or nothing that Museveni does that reflects the aspirations of the most enlightened and articulate sections of his society. This is the more intriguing because as a young person in high school, I always listened to Museveni promising to build a large middle class in Uganda. He would say this will form the foundation for the political (democracy) and economic (prosperity) transformation of Uganda.

Yet today one feels that Museveni has turned his back on the aspirations of this middleclass. This is understandable given that his bread (votes) is buttered by peasant voters in rural areas. But it also shows that those most critical of him are not necessarily what we consider “opposition.” It is largely those inside his own circle, like Amani, the very class he has helped create.

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amwenda@independent.co.ug