KAMPALA: Uganda’s authoritarian leader, who has been in power since 1986, was confirmed on Tuesday as a candidate in January’s presidential vote and urged supporters to back his vision for the future.
Electoral officials formally declared President Yoweri Museveni a candidate at an event just outside of Kampala, the Ugandan capital, after more than 2 million supporters signed on to back his bid, according to his party.
Museveni’s ruling National Resistance Movement controls the national assembly, which is widely seen as weak and subservient to the presidency. In 2017 lawmakers removed a constitutional age limit on the presidency, leaving room for Museveni, now 81, to run for as long as he wishes.
Museveni told supporters after he was officially nominated that his goal is “to convince the people of Uganda of what has been achieved in the past and what we are planning to do now.”
Attracting more foreign investors into the east African country is a priority, he said.
Hundreds were gathering at ceremonial grounds in Kampala to celebrate the nomination later on Tuesday.
Museveni first took power by force and remained unelected until 1996. Elections since 2001 have been marred by allegations of rigging and interference by the military, now led by Museveni’s son.
Museveni’s main political opponent, Bobi Wine, is a popular entertainer whose real name is Kyagulanyi Ssentamu. He is scheduled to be nominated later this week.
In the 2021 election, Wine secured 35 percent of the vote, while Museveni, with 58 percent, posted his worst-ever result, establishing Wine as the president’s most potent challenger in decades. Wine alleged his victory was stolen through widespread ballot stuffing and other malpractices.
Electoral authorities denied the allegations.
The January vote is expected to reprise the contest between the two. Museveni dismisses his opponent as an agent of foreign interests and has questioned his patriotism.
Yet Wine has a large following among working-class people in urban areas, and his party has the most seats of any opposition party in the national assembly.
Museveni has been campaigning in recent days in Kampala as he tries to bolster his chances among people likely to support Wine, urban residents often without a reliable source of income who hope for a change of government.
Uganda has the second-youngest population in the world, with more than three quarters of its people below the age of 35, according to the UN children’s agency. It is one of at least four African nations that have agreed to receive migrants deported from the United States.
Uganda’s authoritarian president, in power since 1986, is running for reelection
https://arab.news/m6s3u
Uganda’s authoritarian president, in power since 1986, is running for reelection
- Electoral officials formally declared President Yoweri Museveni a candidate at an event just outside of Kampala, the Ugandan capital, after more than 2 million supporters signed on to back his bid, according to his party
EU to suspend 93 billion euro retaliatory trade package against US for 6 months
- “With the removal of the tariff threat by the US we can now return to the important business,” Gill said
- The Commission will soon make a proposal “to roll over our suspended countermeasures”
BRUSSELS: The European Commission said on Friday it would propose suspending for another six months an EU package of retaliatory trade measures against the US worth 93 billion euros ($109.19 billion) that would otherwise kick in on February 7.
The package, prepared in the first half of last year when the European Union was negotiating a trade deal with the United States, was put on hold for six months when Brussels and Washington agreed on a joint statement on trade in August 2025.
US President Donald Trump’s threat last week to impose new tariffs on eight European countries over Washington’s push to acquire Greenland had made the retaliatory package a handy tool for the EU to use had Trump followed through on his threat.
“With the removal of the tariff threat by the US we can now return to the important business of implementing the joint EU-US statement,” Commission spokesman Olof Gill said.
The Commission will soon make a proposal “to roll over our suspended countermeasures, which are set to expire on February 7,” Gill said, adding the measures would be suspended for a further six months.
“Just to make absolutely clear — the measures would remain suspended, but if we need them at any point in the future, they can be unsuspended,” Gill said.
