On Jan. 16, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni proclaimed victory in his country’s presidential election. Through violence and fear, he illegitimately retained the presidency, a position he has held since 1986. Museveni’s claim to victory has been challenged by the leading opposition candidate, Bobi Wine, who claimed that Museveni’s graft and voter intimidation rendered the election fraudulent. Violence and protests have endured since.
On Jan. 14, the day of the election, government officials instituted an internet shutdown, rendering biometric voting machines useless and forcing poll workers to administer votes manually — making the election more susceptible to fraud. In response, Wine called for and coordinated peaceful protests challenging the results, but Museveni responded swiftly with brutal violence.
These abuses comport with Museveni’s long history of repression, human rights violations and authoritarianism. He has meticulously set himself up to remain in indefinite control by removing constitutionally mandated presidential term and age limits. Additionally, the subsequent arrest of Wine further calls into question the legitimacy of the election. Museveni’s actions to retain power weren’t a far cry from the actions of former President Donald Trump, whose incitement of a riot in the U.S. Capitol threatened our democracy’s foundations. Therefore, the new Biden administration must demonstrate that the U.S. stands ready to protect democracies from similar political strongmen. Meanwhile, we, as Americans, must promote awareness on social media and aid the Ugandans protesting for change.
Leading up to the election, Museveni directed his security forces to arrest and torture members of the media and opposition party. Recently, he used the COVID-19 pandemic to justify cracking down on the opposition’s ability to hold mass rallies, forcing them to operate in a heavily policed digital realm. Even then, Museveni subsequently implemented a social media ban on Facebook and Twitter, which he believed were unfairly striking down pro-government accounts, thus further curtailing the opposition’s avenues for campaigning. As he was able to control the narrative of the campaign, these moves all but guaranteed Museveni’s victory.
However, the political strife in Uganda can be partially attributed to American interventionism in Africa and much of the global south, which has propped up tactical regime changes. This has been common practice since the Cold War, allowing the U.S. to assert global dominance and strategically place its allies in power. The Museveni regime is sustained by the $970 million it receives in aid yearly from the U.S. However, evidence suggests that much of this yearly aid is diverted to financing Museveni’s election rigging and militarization. U.S. aid has buttressed Museveni’s corrupt government. The U.S., which has claimed to uphold democracy through military intervention for so long, should not fund Uganda’s flagrant human rights abuses.
The Biden administration must condemn the corrupt electoral practices that Museveni’s authoritarian regime exercised in the 2021 Ugandan presidential election and stand against widespread political repression in Africa. Given the political violence against and harassment of the opposition, there should be an outpouring of support by Americans and those around the globe to aid Ugandans in their struggle for liberty. In light of our own democracy’s tenets being eroded by a political strongman, Americans should recognize the plight of the Ugandan people in whatever way possible, whether it be through organizing, donating or spreading awareness on social media. The world looks to America to be the shining city on a hill, but in the last four years we’ve failed to combat authoritarianism. It’s time to reset the aspirational course.
The above editorial represents the majority opinion of the Wheel’s Editorial Board. The Editorial Board is composed of Sahar Al-Gazzali, Brammhi Balarajan, Viviana Barreto, Rachel Broun, Jake Busch, Sara Khan, Sophia Ling, Martin Shane Li, Demetrios Mammas, Meredith McKelvey, Sara Perez, Ben Thomas, Leah Woldai, Lynnea Zhang and Yun Zhu.
The Editorial Board is the official voice of the Emory Wheel and is editorially separate from the Wheel's board of editors.
