The Musevenian Mind

Mheshimiwa Rais Yoseri Museveni has lettered a long-winded gobbledygook on the history of election fraud in Uganda since 1961. <Opposition Rigged Luweero Elections--Museveni >One must wonder: why now?

 

In 1980 Museveni went to war because he alleged that year's election was rigged and stolen by his nemesis, Apollo Milton Obote.  Being the master calculator that he is, he piggybacked on the disaffection of the Baganda with Obote and his Northern kinsmen. Moreover, the immediate post-Amin era was in a messy flux. The rest is history, and Museveni has been in power with several election cycles under his belt.

 

The recent by-election loss in Luweero to the opposition DP candidate, Nabukenya has hurt Museveni badly, hence the long letter to the newspapers. That seems to be an immediate obvious explanation. But Mr. Museveni is a complicated man. You have to look at historical behaviors to understand how his mind works. He wants to be in charge. He hogs credits for himself. He has a large ego. He struggles with being a savedee and playing hard-nosed dark politics. He is a very conflicted man.

 

Of late, the opposition has been on a nation-wide campaign for electoral reforms. As with all humans, when you do things together, you bond. Look at the fraternities among school athletes and you get the picture. The first mark of the opposition bond was manifested clearly at the campaigns in Luweero for Brenda Nabukenya. Her landslide win in Luweero, the epicenter of the Musevenian war of attrition, spooked the old warrior. He went back to basics: take control and get the credits.
 

So, the enumeration of election frauds and the blaming of the opposition, his own election commission and the NRM machinery is setting the stage for electoral reforms. I will not be surprised if the cabinet soon comes up with a proposal for electoral reforms