Uganda’s opposition faces unity challenge

Subject

Outlook for Uganda's opposition.

Significance

President Yoweri Museveni in late October described popular opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi (better known as ‘Bobi Wine’) as “an enemy of progress” and argued that his calls for foreign companies not to do business with Museveni’s Uganda were tantamount to “economic war”. Museveni’s use of this phrase is significant, because that was how former dictator Idi Amin described his reform agenda in the 1970s, which ultimately left 300,000 dead. It has now become a term for orchestrated chaos among Ugandans. This is apparently how Museveni wishes to paint the opposition as the country heads towards 2021 elections.

Impacts

• The election looks likely to be run largely on negative themes, as both sides point to the others’ flaws rather than their own strengths.
• The crackdown on the opposition risks spilling over into a wider attack on civic freedoms and a more generalised repression of dissent.
• Any further narrowing of the political space risks deeper damage to Museveni’s reputation among donors.