Museveni, há 27 anos no Poder

It is becoming clear that the President wants yet another term of office, possibly for his son, but he has major legal and political obstacles to overcome first Image courtesy of Panos Pictures Uganda’s next election may only be in 2016 but President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, who is almost certain to run again, has set out an early agenda. He is mobilising support amongst the armed forces and veterans – and moving to quash all dissent in the governing National Resistance Movement (NRM). With the Public Order Management Bill, which has been widely criticised for restricting free speech, having passed into law in May, police now have discretionary powers to break up meetings of three people or more that they believe to be political. Museveni may also be seeking to raise the constitutional age limit for a president above 75. Yet the biggest battle Museveni and NRM Secretary General and Prime Minister John Patrick Amama Mbabazi are now fighting is an attempt to rein in the ‘rebel MPs’, as four NRM dissident members of parliament have become known: Theodore Ssekikubo (Lwemiyaga, AC Vol 53 No 4, Spring in opposition’s step and Vol 53 No 5, Rebels with a cause), Barnabas Ateenyi Tinkasiimire (Buyaga West), Wilfred Niwagaba (Ndorwa East) and Muhammad Nsereko (Kampala Central). All were expelled by an NRM tribunal in April 2013, but they refused to leave parliament even though the constitution requires MPs who have left their political parties also to resign their seats. They claim that the provision in the constitution is aimed at MPs switching party allegiance – and they have not. The Supreme Court was in hearings on the matter as AC went to press. Africa Confidential