Bad News to Museveni As US Issues a Tough Announcement Shortly After Election

Museveni’s post-election celebrations were overshadowed after the United States issued a strong rebuke of Uganda’s electoral process, calling into question the legitimacy of President Yoweri Museveni’s projected seventh term in office.

U.S. Senator Jim Risch, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urged Washington to reassess its relationship with Uganda following what he described as “hollow” elections.

In a strongly worded statement shared publicly, Risch said the polls were designed to legitimize Museveni’s continued stay in power rather than reflect the will of the Ugandan people.

“Uganda’s elections, like in Tanzania, were a hollow exercise staged to legitimise President Museveni’s seventh term and four decades in power,” Risch said.

He noted that while Uganda remains a key regional security partner to the United States, its government has increasingly relied on repression to maintain control.

The senator accused the ruling regime of prioritizing domestic control through political violence, abductions, imprisonment, intimidation of opposition figures, and the misuse of state resources.

According to Risch, such actions undermine democratic institutions and contradict the values expected of a strategic U.S. partner.