from HASSAN ONYANGO in Kampala, Uganda
Uganda Bureau
KAMPALA, (CAJ News) – THE absence of the president’s wife, a former president of a neighbouring country allegedly humiliated at the airport, and an aide to a current president of another neighbouring nation reportedly having his clothes torn by a host security aide.
Controversially, that is how one of the longest reigns on the African continent is continuing.
These were among the dramatic scenes reported as Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni was sworn in for his seventh consecutive term on Tuesday at the Kololo Independence Grounds in the capital, Kampala.
The 81-year-old leader, in power since 1986, took the oath of office for another five-year term at the iconic venue following elections he won with a disputed landslide in January.
Official figures placed him ahead with 71 percent of the vote, entrenching a record enviable to him and his inner circle as Africa’s longest-serving president currently in office.
The period between the elections and the swearing-in, marked by a crackdown by state security forces on opponents of his decades-long rule, has seemed like a lifetime.
It was a drama-laden day in the capital city.
First Lady Janet Museveni (77) was absent from the inauguration ceremony, a significant nonappearance. The empty seat she has occupied for years at inaugurations highlighted her prolonged absence from public view. It was reported at the event that she was recovering from an illness.
She is also the Education Minister in the cabinet, raising concerns about nepotism.
Their eldest daughter, Natasha Karugire, accompanied the president.
It also emerged on the day of the ceremony that Ugandan security officers allegedly tore the clothes of a security aide to South Sudan President Salva Kiir.
This reportedly occurred during a clash linked to the enforcement of security protocol.
Late on Tuesday, reports indicated that Kenya had summoned Uganda’s top envoy following the alleged “humiliation” of former President Uhuru Kenyatta. The incident has reportedly been viewed as a breach of protocol.
This was allegedly because Kenyatta was not promptly received and was kept waiting for some time for an emissary from the host nation.
Currently, Uganda is among the two youngest countries in the world, with a median age of 17.8 years, slightly behind Niger.
The re-elected Museveni disclosed that the mantra for his new term would be: “Kisanja no more sleep and kisanja no more corruption.”
“Kisanja” translates to “term of office.”
Only Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (46 years), Cameroon’s Paul Biya (43 years) and Congo’s Denis Sassou Nguesso (41 years) have served longer as presidents than Museveni.
– CAJ News