To no one’s surprise, Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni was ‘re-elected’, extending his 3 decade rule by another 5 years.
The jury is still out on whether he stole the election, but to many Kenyans, that’s a foregone conclusion. What is certain is that he is not very fond of his main rival Kizza Besigye. We’ve lost count of how many times the poor thing has been arrested and manhandled by the police.
That Uganda has refused to mature democratically as its neighbours do so is a sad affair. One man being President for life in this day and age is quite unfortunate, and Kenyans were keen to tell President Uhuru that yesterday.
When Magufuli was voted in, Uhuru took many days to send his congratulatory message, but the script was different on Saturday.
This was his message to Museveni on Saturday, posted on his Facebook page.
I am very pleased to congratulate His Excellency President Yoweri Museveni on his re-election as President of the Republic of Uganda. The people of Uganda have spoken, and they have spoken very clearly. We respect their choice of President Museveni.
Kenya values its close friendship with Uganda. That friendship is founded on a common history, a common culture, and common interests. In years past, we have worked closely together for the prosperity and freedom of our nations. We look forward to continuing the work that both our nations have already done, together and in concert with the East African Community, the African Union, and IGAD. We look forward, too, to even closer integration.
As expected, many of those commenting were not amused. When Uhuru said that the Ugandan people had spoken very clearly, that is disputable, and fact that he was very quick to congratulate a President who has already done 30 years also angered a lot of people.
Meanwhile, Ugandan government opened Facebook in time for Ugandans to join the conversation on Uhuru’s page.
Here are some of the top comments.
