KAMPALA. President Museveni ,81 will be remembered in Uganda’s history as one of the longest serving head of state . In power for 40 years now,Museveni who shot his way to State House on January 26,1986,has occupied the coveted office longer than all former presidents of Uganda combined .
A bush war hero mastered the art of manipulation, state craft and coercive strategies that have kept the opposition in check for four decades . Politicians who Museveni has convinced have joined him on the dining table and the defiant ones are either locked up in prison on trumped up charges like veteran politicians Dr Kizza Besigye and a host of youthful political activists from National Unity Platform (NUP) or denied their constitutional right to freely engage in opposition politics .
But government apologists say ,Museveni who took charge of Uganda twenty-four years after its independence has scored highly on the scorecard because he inherited a nation battered by political instability and economic collapse.
By 1986 , ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) supporters say Uganda was completely on fragile ground.
The population was barely 15 million, GDP hovered around four billion dollars, and life expectancy averaged just 47 years for men and 50 for women. Literacy stood at roughly forty percent, while the paved road network stretched only 1,300 kilometers.
Higher education was confined to Makerere University only, but the country currently boast of about 60 universities. Of these, 40 are privately owned, 12 are public universities, 5 are military universities and three are regarded as degree-awarding institutions, opening doors for thousands of young Ugandans and foreigners. In the past four decades the economy has expanded nearly fifteen fold, reaching around 54 billion dollars.
Life expectancy has climbed into the mid-sixties for men and close to seventy for women. Literacy now covers nearly three-quarters of the population, signaling that education has become a shared national asset. Infrastructure has also grown significantly.
The paved road network exceeds 6,000 kilometers, creating vital arteries of commerce and connection. Infant mortality has dropped sharply to roughly 27 deaths per 1,000 live births, while maternal mortality has fallen to 170 per 100,000.
Electricity access, once rare, now reaches nearly 60 percent of households, with solar energy lighting rural communities far beyond the national grid. Subsistence farming still sustains many families, but the proportion living entirely within it has dropped below 39 percent.
Even on measures of well-being, progress is evident. On the global happiness index, Uganda now scores about 4.4 out of 10, ranking its people as the happiest in East Africa. The biggest question now being asked by many political observers is, will such gains be protected by Museveni seeking to extend his rule beyond 40 years ,paving way for his son and chief of defense forces Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba or preparing a smooth transition .