Political Quotes

“I rise with grave concern to speak about the troubling political situation in Uganda in the runup to that country's elections on January 14 and to call on President Museveni to take immediate action to stop the country's downward political spiral. Uganda has been an important if not critical security and counterterrorism partner to the United States for well over a decade, playing a prominent role in the African Union's Mission to Somalia and hosting over 1.4 million refugees. Its leadership and influence in East Africa and the African continent writ large is difficult to overstate. However, these are troubling times in Uganda, and longstanding efforts to advance its democracy are now in peril. National elections in Uganda have not met internationally accepted standards for free and fair polls since 1996, when they were held for the first time after a long-running conflict that brought President Museveni to power. For decades, Museveni's ruling National Resistance Party, NRM, has leveraged access to and influence over state resources and institutions to tilt the electoral balance in its favor. These efforts are not new. Under President Museveni's leadership, the NRM successfully moved to change the Ugandan Constitution in 2005 to remove Presidential term limits and again in and 2017 to lift age limits. These changes allow President Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, to remain in office indefinitely.…”