An online protest campaign is targeting corruption in Uganda’s parliament, using leaked official documents to reveal details of abuse of public resources, nepotism and even collusion between civil servants and lawmakers on oversight committees. The campaign has been trending on X, formerly Twitter, as #UgandaParliamentExhibition. (AP)
Our Take
This protest campaign is notably taking place in a country where any meaningful political opposition has been completely shut down. The regime of President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled Uganda for nearly 40 years, has long used varying levels of violence to close political space. Since the 2021 election cycle, in which popstar-turned-politician Bobi Wine launched a highly publicized challenge to Museveni, violent repression has become increasingly common and severe, with credible reports of torture and forced disappearances of opposition party members.
Despite the repression, which also targets activists and journalists, Museveni has received little criticism, let alone repercussions, from the international community. His regime is protected by both the general inattention paid to African countries and Uganda’s role as a security partner to the West in countering armed groups in the region, particularly in Somalia and eastern Congo. Especially in Congo, however, Museveni has often been as much a cause of instability as a solution to it.