Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has served as President of Uganda since 26 January 1986, when his National Resistance Army (NRA) captured Kampala at the end of a five-year guerrilla campaign against the governments of Milton Obote and Tito Okello. He leads the National Resistance Movement (NRM), which functioned as a "no-party" movement system until a 2005 referendum restored multiparty politics.
In his early years in office, Museveni was widely credited by Western donors and institutions such as the World Bank for restoring macroeconomic stability, liberalizing the economy, and mounting one of Africa's earliest aggressive responses to HIV/AIDS. He was also a central figure in the "new generation" of African leaders highlighted by US policymakers in the 1990s, alongside figures like Meles Zenawi and Paul Kagame.
His later tenure has drawn sustained criticism. Parliament removed presidential term limits from the constitution in 2005 and lifted the age limit (previously capped at 75) in 2017, enabling him to contest successive elections. He won the 2021 presidential election against musician-turned-politician Bobi Wine (Robert Kyagulanyi) amid an internet shutdown and reports of violence against opposition supporters documented by Human Rights Watch and the EU election observation framework.
Regionally, Museveni has been a pivotal actor. Uganda contributed the first troops to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in 2007, and Ugandan forces have repeatedly intervened in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including operations against the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). The International Court of Justice's 2005 Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo judgment found Uganda liable for violations during its earlier DRC intervention.
He has also drawn international scrutiny for signing the Anti-Homosexuality Act in 2014 (annulled by Uganda's Constitutional Court on procedural grounds) and a stricter Anti-Homosexuality Act in May 2023, prompting World Bank lending suspensions and US sanctions actions.
Example
In May 2023, Museveni signed the Anti-Homosexuality Act into law, prompting the World Bank to suspend new public financing to Uganda.
Frequently asked questions
He was sworn in on 29 January 1986, days after his National Resistance Army captured Kampala on 26 January 1986.
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