Yoweri Museveni fails to attend first presidential debate

Yoweri Museveni has governed Uganda for three decades

As Uganda held its first-ever presidential debate on Friday, the most barbed comments were directed at an empty lectern on the far right side of the stage.

The lectern was labelled with the name Yoweri Museveni, who has governed Uganda for three decades and is heavily favoured to win another five-year term at the polls next month. But the president was a no-show at the US-style televised event.

“I came here expecting that indeed Museveni would be here. Unlike me, Museveni is our servant,” said Kizza Besigye, a longtime opposition figure who is challenging Museveni for the fourth time with Uganda’s biggest opposition party.

Museveni aides have been quoted in local media in recent days saying Museveni would not be able to participate due to other campaign commitments.

But others have said Museveni, who seldom submits to interviews, had little to gain from the event. He has turned down debate invitations in the past.

Western ally

“He is a coward. Museveni could not withstand taking tough questions,” Nassimbwa Hamidah, a Besigye supporter from Uganda’s central region, said during a break.

This is expected to be one of the toughest elections yet for Museveni, 71, a key western ally who came to power after waging a five-year guerrilla war.

Both of the president’s two major challengers have long histories with him: Besigye was once Museveni’s personal physician, but the two fell out in the late 1990s.

The other major challenger, Amama Mbabazi, has long been Museveni’s right-hand man, serving most recently as prime minister before being sacked in a power struggle last year. The session in the capital Kampala included a total of seven candidates, though most of the participants were barely known.