Northern Uganda Messenger Post

President Yoweri Museveni’s once bright star- visible throughout Africa and the West-is dimmed. How could someone, once revered by the West, be suddenly down on his luck? The answer to this question is long and complicated. For Museveni, it is a combination of indictable misadventures in Rwanda, Congo, and northern Uganda ; corruption , electoral theft, and heavy-handedness in dealing with political opponents at home . Simply put, 23 years in power is a long time. One is bound to make as many enemies as friends- at home and abroad -along the way. Consequently, incumbency reaches deleterious point of diminishing return ; when it has nothing more to offer but personal insecurities and corresponding obsession with retaining power, defending ill-gotten wealth, and protecting cronies. Despite his dwindling political, diplomatic fortunes, Museveni could yet rescue himself from being discarded-like all utility men before him-for becoming a liability, rather than continued asset to his Weste...

Key Words: Desmond Tutu, John Sentamu, Raila Odinga, Gordon Brown, Internaional Community, Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe, African Union (AU), Yoweri Museveni; Paul Kagame, Laurent Nkunda, DRC Congo If you believe the Western media, the Western coalition that calls itself and its will that of the international community, you would be forgiven if you thought Zimbabwe is the worst place to be right now on earth, and Robert Mugabe, the only African leader who has been in power more than 10 years. You might also easily think that Zimbabwe is the only place in Africa or the world, where elections have been controversial and contested. And you would also be forgiven if you thought Zimbabwe is the only place where people have or are dying of political violence as a result of a contested state legitimacy. Listening to Raila Odinga, John Sentamu, or Condeeleeza Rice, you would think that all the dictators and those who suppress political freedom and use state violence to brutalise their opponents are ...