Are Museveni’s sins less despicable than Mugabe’s or Kaddafi’s? Yoweri Museveni’s violent response to mass protests in Uganda – sparked by rising food and fuel prices –-is just one of many such traits found in most dictators in the world (if not in Africa). Media reports suggest that Museveni will stop at nothing but a show of force to repress the uprising by any means necessary. In the course of two weeks of the growing unrest in Uganda, his security forces reportedly opened fire on the protestors, killing two, and wounding more than 120. In addition, a score of people are reported to have been beaten, rounded up and arrested, including women and children.
Typical of a mindset of a dictator, President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power for 25 years, does not see the connection between the uprisings and his governing style. Instead his delusional mentality makes him see how indispensable he is to Uganda. Narcissistic is what he is, just like all dictators and autocratic leaders, and he does not care about what the Ugandan citizens think or want.
The west still considers him as an ally, disregarding his repressive policies on ordinary Ugandans. In fact he is the Hosni Mubarak of sub-Saharan Africa, coddled by the West and other African leaders despite the reality that Museveni has caused several times more deaths of Ugandans as well as citizens of neighboring countries like Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi and Congo.
The West is quick to call Mugabe a dictator (which he is) but fail to do the same with Musevani. It is this inconsistency and the international support that makes him indispensable and untouchable. My prescription: Ivory Coast and Libya provide the international community a good precedent or doctrine to deal with Africa’s dictators. Therefore the world must not wait until this event in Uganda turns bloodier, just like what happened in Libya and Ivory Coast. Just like Laurent Gabgbo, Robert Mugabe, and Kaddafi, let Museveni know that he does not have friends supporting current turn of events in Uganda.
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