Yoweri Museveni
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Yoweri Kaguta Museveni is a Ugandan politician, president for life.
Museveni participated in the war to overthrow President Idi Amin (1971-1979) and the rebellion that led to President Milton Obote (1980-1985). In the decades since Uganda became independent, the government has not managed well, and rebellions and civil wars have continued. After Museveni took office, the situation in Uganda was stabilized and the economy developed (except the northern region). The Museveni government also made Uganda one of the most effective countries in the fight against AIDS in Africa , and was praised by the Western world . However, during his tenure, his involvement in the civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other conflicts in the Great Lakes region of Africa damaged his reputation. The Holy Resistance Army ’s rebellion in northern Uganda has destabilized the situation and continues to be one of the most serious humanitarian crises in the world. Some recent practices of the Museveni government, such as the removal of the presidential term limit before the 2006 election, and the harassment of political opponents, have aroused the attention of local political commentators and the international community.
In an exclusive interview with CNN TV in 2014, he revealed his personal perceptions: "Homosexuals are disgusting." In Uganda, homosexuality is a criminal offense. "Criminals" can be sentenced to up to 14 years in prison. In Museveni's view, sexual behavior is a matter of choice, and homosexuality is "unnatural" and cannot be counted as a human right. Museveni won the presidential election for the first time in 1996 and was re-elected in 2001. After Uganda implemented a multi-party system in 2005, Museveni continued to win two general elections in 2006 and 2011. In 2016, he once again sat on the throne of president, but the opposition accused him of intimidating voters and engaging in fraud.
Yoweri Museveni: Early life and occupation (1944-1972)
Museveni was born in the Ntungamo district in western Uganda , a native of Banyankole . His surname means "son of the seventh team" to commemorate the Second World War when many Ugandans involved in the British colonial army of King Africa Rifles ( English : King's African Rifles ) seventh team. His middle name "Kaguta" is inherited from his father Amos Kaguta.
Amos Kaguta lives on livestock, and he married Museveni's mother in Ntungamo. Ka Guta also fathered Salim Sali Ha (male, Salim Saleh ) and Violet Ka Zhu Beery (female, Violet Kajubiri ).
Museveni studied at Mbarara High School ( Mbarara High School ) and Chantal School ( Ntare School ). In high school, he became a reborn Christian . In 1967, he entered the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to study economics and political science and began a radical pan-African political movement. College, he founded the African Revolutionary Front for students ( University Students' African Revolutionary Front ), and led the student delegation to Portuguese Mozambique territory of the Mozambique Liberation Front controlled areas. On the ground, Museveni received armed guerrilla training. Under the guidance of the leftist historian Walter Rodney ( Walter Rodney ), he completed a bachelor's thesis on the feasibility of Franz Fanon's theory of violent revolution in Africa in the postcolonial period.
In 1970, Museveni joined Ugandan President Milton Obote ’s military intelligence agency. When General Amin launched a military coup and seized power in January 1971, Museveni and others including President Obote fled to Tanzania.
Yoweri Museveni: Overthrowing Amin (1972-1980)
The soldiers exiled in Tanzania against Amin's rule (mainly Ranji and Acholi ) invaded Uganda in September 1972, but were repelled and suffered heavy losses. Later, Tanzania and Uganda signed a peace agreement, and the rebels were prohibited from engaging in activities against the Uzbek government in Tanzania. Subsequently, Museveni briefly served as a lecturer at a school in the northern city of Moshi in Tanzania . In 1973, he left the mainstream anti-Ugandan government forces and formed the National Salvation Front . In August of the same year, he married Janet Kataha and had 5 children after marriage.
In October 1978, President Idi Amin ordered the invasion of Tanzania to seize the Kagera district . From March 24 to 26, 1979, Museveni and the National Salvation Front participated in a gathering of exiles and anti-Amin organizations in Moshi . They overcame ideological differences and jointly formed the Uganda National Liberation Front . Museveni was appointed as one of the 11 members of the executive committee, the chairman of which is Yusuf Lulai . Subsequently, the National Liberation Front cooperated with the Tanzanian army to launch a counterattack against the Ugandan army, and finally overthrew the Amin government in April 1979. Museveni was appointed Minister of State for National Defense of the Lulai government, becoming the youngest minister of the year. Thousands of soldiers he recruited during the National Salvation Front were incorporated into the government army and remained loyal to Museveni, but they later played an important role in the second Obote period coup.
In June 1979, Loule stepped down after an internal struggle, and Godfrey Binesa was elected as the new chairman of the National Liberation Front. Vinessa uses methods similar to those of Lulai to consolidate power. In November, Museveni was transferred from the Minister of Defense to Minister of Regional Cooperation, and Binesa took the charge of the Ministry of Defense. In May 1980, Binesa was placed under house arrest after attempting to remove Oyt Ochok, chief of staff of the national army . In fact, this was a coup launched by Paul Mowanga, Museveni, Ochok and Tito Okello . Later, a presidential committee was formed, with Museveni as its vice chairman, and the committee quickly announced that it would hold general elections in December.
At this time, Museveni had a certain reputation in the country. He created a new political party, the Uganda Patriotic Movement , and led the party to participate in the general election, competing with three other parties, including former President Milton Obote . Uganda People's Congress Party , Conservative Party and Democratic Party . The People's Congress Party and the Democratic Party are regarded as the main competitors. Official results showed that the People's Congress Party won the election, and Museveni’s Ugandan Patriotic Movement won only one of the 126 seats. However, some events in the election undermined the acceptance of the election. When planning the election, the president of the Presidential Committee Paul Mowanga supported the opinion of the People’s Congress that each candidate should use a separate ballot box. But this was strongly opposed by other parties, who believed that it would make the election more likely to be manipulated. The establishment of constituencies is also considered to be beneficial to the National People's Congress: the number of voters in the Northern Uganda constituency that supports the National People's Congress is smaller than that of the Buganda constituency that is opposed to the National People's Congress . On the day of the election, Muwanga announced that the election results need to be reviewed by him before being announced, which has increased people's doubts about election fraud. The losing party therefore refused to recognize the legitimacy of the new regime.
Yoweri Museveni: During the Civil War in Uganda (1981-1986)
The Second Obote Period and the National Resistance Army
Museveni and his supporters returned to base camp south of Uganda and the southwest, the composition of the People's Resistance Army ( Popular Resistance Army ). They plan to stage a mutiny to overthrow President Milton Obote and his army, the Ugandan National Liberation Army . On February 6, 1981, the People’s Resistance Army launched its first battle in the middle of the Mubend district . Later, the People’s Resistance Army merged with the armed forces of former President Yusuf Lulai to form the National Resistance Army , and a new party, the National Resistance Movement , was formed . In addition, some Amin’s supporters formed two other anti-government armed groups in northwestern Uganda: the Uganda National Salvation Movement and the former Ugandan National Army to participate in the fight against Obote.
In order to establish a new government, Museveni proposed the "Ten Program Guidelines" in July 1984, covering the establishment of a democratic system, protection of personal and legal property, strengthening national unity, safeguarding national independence, building independence, integration and self-sufficiency. Self-sufficient economy, improving social services, curbing corruption and abuse of power, eradicating inequality, cooperating with other African countries, and establishing a mixed economic system in 10 categories are also the political program of the national resistance movement.
As of July 1985, Amnesty International estimated that the conflict during the Obote period had caused more than 300,000 civilian deaths, and the CIA estimated the death toll exceeded 100,000.The former started to protest to the Obote government on the human rights situation in Uganda in 1982, and the violation of human rights was the most serious in the Lubero Triangle . During this period, the international community’s criticism of the Obote regime’s ignorance of human rights invisibly gave Museveni more support. But Obote himself has always insisted on blaming the National Resistance Army for the situation in the Lubero Triangle.
The Obote government's hard-line suppression of the unrest also made Uganda's most populous ethnic group, the Buganda tribe, and the National Resistance Army united against the National People's Congress.
Nairobi Agreement of 1985
On July 27, 1985, due to the internal division of the Ugandan People’s Congress, Tito Okello, the former Acholi general of the Obote army, successfully launched a military coup to overthrow Obote. However, Museveni and the National Resistance Movement were dissatisfied that their four-year revolutionary achievements were monopolized by the National Liberation Front, and they believed that the latter violated human rights during Obote’s second administration, and his reputation was damaged. However, the National Resistance Movement finally agreed to be hosted by the Kenyan delegation led by President Daniel Arap Moi to hold peace talks with the National Liberation Front.
The peace talks were held from August 26 to December 17, during which the discussion process was very intense, and the armistice agreement reached after the meeting became invalid. Later, the two parties reached a final agreement in Nairobi , which included a ceasefire, the demilitarization of Kampala, the integration of the National Resistance Army and the government, and the absorption of members of the National Resistance Army into the military committee, but these terms were never implemented.
Because the Kenyan delegation lacked an in-depth understanding of the situation in Uganda, and the peace talks did not invite some Ugandans or even international figures to participate, the two sides finally failed to reach a lasting agreement. Museveni refused to share power with the government forces, when the National Resistance Army was capable of achieving a complete military victory.
Forcing Kampala
During the peace talks, Museveni tried to curry favor with Zairian President Mobutu Sese Seko to prevent Zaire from supporting Okello's armed forces. On January 20, 1986, hundreds of soldiers loyal to Idi Amin were escorted by the Zairian military into Uganda and intervened in the civil war. These soldiers had received secret training in Zha, and were contacted by Okello ten days ago.
However, the victory of the National Resistance Army was irreversible. When the rebels approached the capital from the south and southwest, the government forces stationed in Kampala began to resign collectively on January 22. On the 25th, the armed forces led by Museveni arrived in Kampala. The National Resistance Army overthrew the Okello government and declared victory the next day.
On January 19, Museveni was sworn in as President, and the ceremony was presided over by the British-born Judge Peter Allen. After the ceremony, Museveni said, "This is not just a change in the guards, but a fundamental change." Outside the parliament, he assured thousands of people that Uganda would restore democracy. He said: "The people of Africa, the people of Uganda, have the right to have a democratic government. This is not the blessing of any political power. It is the masses, not the government."
Yoweri Museveni: As a President
Political and economic reorganization
The Ugandan regime in the post-Amin period was corrupt , sectarian, unable to reorganize social order, and low credibility. Museveni needs to avoid these mistakes so as not to repeat the mistakes of his predecessors. The National Resistance Movement announced the establishment of a four-year transitional government. Its ethnic base is broader than before. The representatives of different factions in the government are personally selected by Museveni.
The Museveni regime also restricted the activities of political parties and their supporters on the grounds of frequent factional conflicts. Under the new system, the existence of political parties is not prohibited, but political parties cannot directly designate candidates to participate in elections. Under this system, Museveni requires all Ugandan people to be loyal to him. This system has been the political cornerstone of Uganda for nearly 20 years.
After the establishment of the new government in 1986, the "National Resistance Movement Committee" assumed the functions of the interim council, responsible for managing regional affairs, including ensuring an even distribution of priced goods. The committee members are directly elected by the townships. This is the first time that the Ugandan people have experienced direct democratic elections after decades of dictatorships of varying degrees.
The new government has received wide international support, and the economy devastated by the civil war has also improved under the series of policies implemented by Museveni. These policies focused on key issues such as hyperinflation and the balance of payments , and abandoned his Marxist ideals and adopted neoliberal economic measures proposed by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund .
In 1987, Uganda began to participate in the International Monetary Fund’s economic recovery plan. The purpose of the plan included restoring the market economy to stimulate investment, employment and export growth; encouraging trade and increasing the types of traded goods (mainly emphasizing exports); removing the bureaucracy Measures to protect public enterprises to promote sustained economic growth and the development of private enterprises; to liberalize trade at all levels.
Regional relations and conflicts
After January 1986, Museveni continued to serve as the supreme commander of the National Resistance Army. The Kenyan government led by Moi initially suspected that the National Resistance Movement government would support dissident organizations in the country. In the second half of 1987, the two armies even faced off in the border city of Busia . At this time, the tension between Kenya and Ukraine reached its peak. If Kenya closes its borders, Uganda’s economy will be severely damaged, because Uganda, as a landlocked country, needs to use Kenya’s Mombasa port to enter and exit the Indian Ocean .
During the fight against Obote, the National Resistance Army recruited anyone willing to fight regardless of nationality. Many Rwandan exiles living in Uganda have been persecuted by the Obote regime, which prompted them to join the National Resistance Army. A few years after Museveni came to power, there are still thousands of Rwandans on the payroll list of the Ugandan armed forces. On the night of September 30, 1990, about 4,000 Rwandan soldiers from the National Resistance Army secretly left the barracks and joined other armed forces to invade Rwanda from Uganda. At that time , a large number of members of the Rwanda Patriotic Front actually acted in secret groups in the National Resistance Army.
The Rwandan Patriotic Front (abbreviated as Love Front) is an organization composed of Rwandan exiles dedicated to confronting the government of Juvenal Habyarimana linked to Museveni and the National Resistance Movement , the leader of the Love Front People such as Fred Rubigamba and Paul Kagame are founding members of the National Resistance Movement. When the fighting broke out, Museveni and Habyarimana were participating in United Nations meetings in the United States. There is a view that: the love array chose this opportunity to keep Museveni away from their actions until they can't stop them. The Rwandan government forces repelled the rebels with the aid of Belgium , France and Zaire .
Museveni was accused of conspiring, participating in the invasion, or failing to restrain his army during the invasion. The Love Array then fled to the Virunga Mountain on the border between Ulu and Ulu. Habyarimana accused Uganda of allowing the Ai Front to use its territory as a rear base, and responded by shelling Ugandan villages in the border area. Uganda also responded. The exchange of fire between the two sides caused more than 60,000 people to flee their homes. Although the two countries agreed to implement cooperative defense in the border zone during the negotiation of a security agreement, the love formation that rose again had captured most of the northern Rwanda territory at the end of 1992. In April 1994, the planes of Rwandan President Habyarimana and Burundi President Ntariamira were shot down over Kigali Airport, triggering the massacre in Rwanda that killed 800,000 people . With the assistance of the Ugandan army, the Aidan took advantage of the momentum to capture Kigali and take power.
In April 1995, Uganda interrupted diplomatic relations with Sudan to protest Khartoum 's support for the Holy Resistance Army , a rebel army active in northern Uganda . In this regard, Sudan also pointed out that Uganda supports the Sudanese People's Liberation Army, a rebel army in that country . Both rebels are suspected of operating in the border area between the two countries. The dispute between Uganda and Sudan dates back to at least 1988. Ugandan refugees lived in southern Sudan during the Amin and Obote administrations. After Museveni took power in 1986, many of these refugees participated in Ugandan rebels, including the West Bank Front and later the Holy Spirit Resistance Army. For a long time, the Museveni government regarded Sudan as the biggest threat to Uganda's security.
Internal security and human rights
After the National Resistance Movement came to power, it promised to restore public order and respect human rights. Museveni’s previous "Ten Guidelines" also involved these two points. He mentioned in his oath:
| " | The second point of our program is to protect the safety of people and legal property. No matter where everyone in Uganda chooses to live, his safety must be absolutely guaranteed. Any individual or organization that threatens the safety of our people will be ruthlessly defeated. The people of Uganda should only die because of natural factors beyond our control, not because of other humans who continue to act on our land. | " |
Although Museveni has become the head of the new Kampala government, the influence of the national resistance movement has not yet spread throughout the country and is also facing some insurgent activities. Since Museveni's presidency began, he received strong support from the south and southwest regions, which are to Bantu -dominated region is Museveni's base. In order to gain the support of the Karamojong, a ethnic group in the northeast that has always lacked political influence, Museveni tried to recruit the ethnic group into the government. But more difficult to deal with is the northern area along the border with Sudan.
Repeated terms
In 1996, the first direct general election was held for the presidential election. As a result, Museveni was elected with 74.2%; he was re-elected with 69.33% in 2001.
In 2006, the restriction on re-election was abolished, and he was re-elected for the third time with 59.26%. In 2011, he was elected president for the fourth time with 68.38% and was re-elected successfully. Before the results of the 2016 presidential election were announced, his competitor Bessij was placed under house arrest and was re-elected with 60.62% of the votes. Before the 2021 presidential election, the upper limit of the age limit of 75 years old for presidential candidates will be lifted and re-elected with 58.64% of the vote.
