President Yoweri Museveni has been at the helm
of Uganda for almost 40 years.
He waged a guerrilla war, promising a democratic
and economically vibrant Uganda.
But elections in Kampala have become nothing more than violent repression, with the result obvious long before election day, while the economic potential remains frustratingly untapped.
His opposition challengers are either rotting in jail or under house arrest.
But in a strange, but understandable fit of rage (elections are scheduled for January 15, 2026), he has started a debate aimed at distracting the Ugandan electorate from his failures by claiming Uganda’s lack of a coastline frustrates his exports and might become a source of war with Kenya.
Museveni must tell his constituents a compelling narrative that will make voters give him another term.
Stoking unnecessary anxiety about war and ambitions of a naval force without a coastline is not only unbelievable, it is shocking.
His rant is completely at odds with the efforts, which he has been part of, to integrate the East African Community into a united and harmonious economic trading bloc with a single currency to boot.
This is no time for wishful thinking.
The most cost-effective option for Uganda is to make the most of Mombasa port as a gateway for goods to Kampala.
“In each of us, two natures are at war – the good and the evil. All our lives the fight goes on between them, and one of them must conquer.”
The Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer was November 13, 1850
