UGANDA: ANOTHER TRAVESTY OF DEMOCRACY

UGANDA: ANOTHER TRAVESTY OF DEMOCRACY

That the Ugandan electoral commission has declared President Yoweri Museveni the winner of Thursday's presidential election is no news. He purportedly won more than 60% percent of the votes, a feat in electoral infamy! Museveni has been in power since 1986. And he continues to manipulate and constrict the country's democratic space at will, making it impossible for anyone else to succeed him as long as he is alive. Sit tight leaders always create a myth of indispensability, imposing a fait accompli on their powerless citizens by using the military and the police to sustain themselves in power. The proponents of indispensability always forget that the graveyards are full of indispensables!

What I can't understand however is American government's attitude of trusting African dictators to conduct free and fair elections. Mollycoddled by the United States, Museveni is always aware the Americans can only give him a mild rebuke for disregarding democratic values. Once you are their stooge, the Americans publicly pretend to oppose you for not respecting democratic values, but allow you have your way, anyway.

Weeks before the election, Museveni had told his security officials that he was not ready to be disgraced out of office by the opposition candidate and his former personal physician Mr. Besigye. He told them he would rather commit suicide than hand over to his opposition challenger. He had blackmailed his security officials into working for his victory by whatever means. The outcome of this mockery of democracy didn't surprise me. What surprises me is the gullibility of Western nations, mainly the United States, which continues to believe that a sit tight African dictator like Museveni would ever show any real commitment to free and fair elections.
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