Uganda President Yoweri Museveni took over the reins of power in 1996 following a transition that was occasioned by a coup that toppled then-President Milton Obote.
Museveni who is the longest-serving president of Uganda has never lost an election since then and there is no clear plan for when he will exit the stage.
While there have been claims of dictatorship, Museveni who was re-elected in 2021 revealed the secret behind his easy wins in presidential elections.
The 78-year-old said he has never kissed his wife in public. He said doing such would not only deprive an African man of his native identity but would make him lose presidential elections.
“If I kissed my wife in public, I would lose all the elections in Uganda. Because Africans don’t show what is private in public. If you want to kiss, you know where the address for kissing is,” Museveni said as quoted by Tuko.co.ke.
After taking over from Obote in January 1986, Museveni was first elected to the post on May 9, 1996, and his backers won control of the National Assembly in legislative elections held the following month.
Museveni was reelected in 2001 and again in 2006 after a constitutional amendment passed the previous year had eliminated established term limits for the presidency.
He was reelected again in 2011 and 2016, although the opposition and international observers noted problems with the polling process in both elections.
A constitutional amendment passed in 2017 removed the age limit for presidential candidates that had been set at age 75 while also reposting a limit of two terms, clearing the way for an aging Museveni to stand for the next two presidential elections.
He was reelected in 2021, but the campaign period prior to the polls was criticized as being repressive.
