Name: What's the mood in Uganda after Yoweri Museveni wins election marred by repression | DW News
Uploaded: 2026-01-18T17:20:54.000Z
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Let's turn to Uganda, where President Yoweri Museveni has won a seventh term in office.

Supporters celebrated on the streets of the capital Kampala, after the country's electoral commission declared a victory for the 81 year old leader.

Official results gave him more than 70% of the vote.

In an election marred by violence and an Internet shutdown.

Museveni's main rival, Bobby Wine, has rejected the result.

And for more we're now joined by Phil Clark, professor of international politics at so as University of London and significantly an expert on conflict and post conflict politics in east and Central Africa.

Professor President Museveni has now secured a seventh term in office.

How do you interpret this outcome and what does it tell us about the current political landscape in Uganda?

Museveni's victory is already creating enormous anger and disillusionment, particularly for younger Ugandans.

There's a real sense of fatigue with a president who's been in power for 40 years.

Uganda in the last couple of decades has been experiencing enormous economic growth, but, but

almost none of that revenue is flowing to everyday people.

It's a country riddled with poverty, with corruption, with unemployment, particularly for young people.

So people are fed up with Museveni, this elderly president who's now been in power for four decades.

And there's real disillusionment, I think, with the entire political system that it's simply not possible to have a free and fair election.

It's not possible for the opposition really to make inroads.

And so I think this is creating an enormous amount of depression, particularly for younger Ugandans.

I'm sure you well are aware of the fact that the United nations released a report ahead of the vote warning that the electoral process has been marked by repression and impunity.

Given these concerns, how credible would you say this election was?

This has been a heavily flawed election, Michael, just as the last five or six elections in Uganda have been heavily flawed.

We've seen the harassment and the intimidation of Bobby Wine and his supporters in the last few weeks during the campaign.

We've seen violence against protesters in the streets.

We've seen an Internet blackout of the country in the last week or so.

And so I think Bobby Wine is right when he comes out and says that this is not a credible election.

No one really believes that Museveni could have won a 72% victory here.

I think one of the telltales as well is that this is the lowest turnout we've ever seen in a Ugandan election, only 52% of the population turned out.

I think that also shows that many people have simply lost faith in the electoral process.

And so there's an enormous amount of trust that is going to be needed to be built in Ugandan politics in the next five to 10 years.

Uganda is just one of several countries in east or Central Africa that have held what international observers and rights groups would call flawed elections, including but not limited to Tanzania, Rwanda, the Central African Republic.

What's the most conclusive thing you can say about the state of democracy in the region?

I think the story of democracy in eastern Central Africa is that we have these long standing presidents who are using all of the means at their disposal to cling to power.

And we can see it in Rwanda, we can see it in Kenya, we can see it in Tanzania.

Real frustration amongst these very young countries.

This is a region where the vast majority of the population is aged under 30.

Young people with different aspirations, many of whom were born after these presidents came to power.

They've only known these particular presidents and there is a large scale desire for change across.

But the problem at the moment is these younger generations can't achieve that change through conventional political means.

They can't achieve it through electoral politics.

The big question for young people in East Africa and for opposition political movements is how else can they affect change?

Because at the moment the ballot box is simply not working for them.

That is Phil Clark, professor of International Politics at soz University of London and East Africa expert.

Many thanks for your time and your perspective, sir.

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What's the mood in Uganda after Yoweri Museveni wins election marred by repression | DW News

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