Ugandan President walks in the jungle in the footsteps of his former guerrilla

Ugandan President Yoweri Musevini embarked on a six-day jungle trek on Saturday to retrace the route taken by his guerrillas when he took power in Kampala over 30 years ago.

The march has been called « electoral » by opponents, while elections are scheduled for Uganda in 2021.

President Musevini has ruled the country with an iron fist since 1986.

At the head of the national resistance army, his guerrilla movement, he seized power that year by sweeping away Idi Amin and Milton Obote from power. He will then be officially elected in 1996, 2001, 2006, then in 2011 with more than 60% of the votes.

Mr. Museveni, born August 15, 1944, is the only president that most Ugandans know, in a country where one in two people is under the age of 16. At the initiative of the ruling party, the Constitution was recently amended to remove the age limit for running for the presidency, thereby allowing him to run for a sixth term in 2021.

President Musevini began this march, which should run 195 km from Galamba, north of Kamapala, and end on January 10 in Birembo, south of the Ugandan capital, where his rebel army waged one of its most fierce battles. to overthrow Obote.

“The big march starts today and should last six days. It is a journey led by the president, a journey into the past to appreciate the present, « Don Wanyama, a spokesman for Musevini, told AFP on Saturday.

« The journey will last a week through the jungle on a route taken by the liberators led by Musevini to liberate the country, » added Wanyama.

Opposition MP and singer Bobi Wine, 37, who announced in July his intention to run for the Ugandan presidency in the 2021 elections, and challenged Yoweri Museveni, said the march was purely electoral.

“Instead of spending taxpayers’ money on this kind of journey, Musevini should know that it is time for him to step down (…) peasants and everyone else in Uganda wants change and no less ”Said singer Bobi Wine, Robert Kyangulanyi of his real name.

Opposition member Asuman Basalirwa said the march was an electoral “campaign tool”.
« Ugandans deserve better than a president walking in the jungle, » he said.