Yoweri Museveni and the return of ‘Bandaism’

I recently was shocked to hear that the court in Uganda paved the way for Yoweri Museveni to run for president for the sixth time; and keep his grips on power after amending the constitution that put a ceiling on a person who is above 75 years to run for the office. Remember where you were on 29th January, 1986. How old were you? For the unborn generations, imagine having a single president throughout their lives as if their countries were barren of competent people to serve as president. This is what the story of Ugandan President Museveni–one of the longest serving presidents in the world–who recently was cleared by the court to run for sixth time–ferrets. The 29th January, 1986 is the day Museveni’s sworn-in as Uganda’s president soon after defeating General Tito Okello’s friable regime.

Museveni came to power when former president Ali Hassan Mwinyi’s just three months in power. Ever since, Tanzania’s had three presidents who served two-five year terms in office; plus the current one who’s been in power for two years. Despite being in power for decades, Museveni’s still hell-bent to keep on lord it over Ugandans. This is what this column calls Bandaism.

For those not au fait with Bandaism, it’s the system wherein former Malawi’s dictator, Hastings Kamuzu Banda, barefacedly declared himself president for life; and turned the country into his private estate to mismanage and misuse as he deemed fit.

To his credit, though he’s a stinking potentate, Banda’s straightforward. He didn’t fritter away public money, resources and time to convene charades known as or call his thinly-veiled waffle elections. Neither did Banda hide behind fake and helter-skelter democracy defined by bedlam, coercion and deceit. His was a stinking autocratic and kleptocratic rule; he and his victims knew. However, Banda participated in elections twice, in 1961 wherein he won; and in 1993 he lost.

Experientially, Egyptians, Libyans and Zimbabweans know too well the tedium of having a demigod in power for many years. He becomes so recycled and tired that he doesn’t remember even his past self. Such a ruler becomes cast-off and worn-out. He fails to differentiate between himself and the country. This is why one can say that, for Museveni and the likes, Uganda is Museveni and Museveni is Uganda.

This is why Museveni says that “some people think that being in government for a long time is a bad thing. But the more you stay, the more you learn. I am now an expert in governance.” Museveni sadly failed to underscore the fact that bad boys such as Banda, Blaise Compaore (Burkina Faso), Hosni Mubarak (Egypt), Joseph Mobutu (DRC), Muamar Gadaffi (Libya), Yahya Jammeh and others who–out of their ignorance, myopia and selfishness–were either booted out from power like rabid dogs or overthrown and killed, stayed some longer than he’s done yet ended up proving they knew nothing about governance.

Who’d think that Mugabe wouldn’t know the jigs were up so as to self-dress as he did recently by abandoning his party and voting for the opposition he used to demonise in the just ended general elections? What a contradiction-cum-shame? What lesson did the likes of Museveni get from Mugabe’s desperation and shame?

Love or loathe me; Museveni needs a help urgently for not learning from the fallen dictators who, like him, wrongly thought they’re bigger than their countries. Geopolitically, Museveni needs somebody to tell him that what he’s been doing’s undemocratic, wrong, and illegal. It doesn’t do Uganda any good. Again, where’ll he get such a person if at all in East Africa and Africa in general tinkering with the constitutions to hang around in power’s become an in-thing? Burundi, Rwanda and, now Uganda, in the EAC, have already degraded their constitutions so as to act as diapers any power or self-seeker can use? Cameroon, Chad, and Equatorial Guinea not to mention countries such as, Lesotho, Sudan, Swaziland, and others whose rulers are more of military or traditional monarchs. Museveni’s move’s given EA a worse tag than other regions in violating the constitutions. Equally, the African Union (AU)–that’s supposed to take on this crime, circumstantially is in on it; on its last legs many years ago after becoming a palaver for African potentates to congregate and blather.

There are many unanswered questions regarding Museveni’s monotonous hooey mission-cum-hoo-ha for Uganda. Why does he waste a lot of public money, resources and time convening shenanigans he called elections instead of just being straightforward declaring he’s president for life like Banda did? What can he do that he failed to do in his over thirty years in power, especially at this eleventh hour? Museveni has already exhausted everything. He’s already appointed his wife a minister not to mention his son and friends. Like any senior and long-time public worker, when’ll Museveni retire; and play with his grandchildren? What precedent is Museveni setting in his paradigmatic political behaviour gyrating around tampering with the sacred document of the land, the constitution? Why’s he afraid of retiring?

In sum, when’ll Museveni respect and stop tampering with the constitution to stay in power illicitly? If there’s anybody who loves and respects Museveni, must pliably tell him to abandon his useless projects of becoming Uganda’s life president. As a senior public servant, it’s time for Museveni to call it quits and allow new blood and crop to catapult Uganda to the future. Look at how Tanzania’s soaring while Uganda’s swarming. All this is because of the new crop of leaders such as John Pombe Magufuli who’s in high school when Museveni took power not to mention Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed who’s just 10 years old.