{UAH} MUSEVENI’S LONG-TIME RIVAL FEATURES IN GUINNESS WORLD BOOK OF RECORDS, ALL THANKS TO HIM

MUSEVENI'S LONG-TIME RIVAL FEATURES IN GUINNESS WORLD BOOK OF RECORDS, ALL THANKS TO HIM
 
Uganda's opposition leader, Kizza Besigye, has been given a spot in the latest edition of the Guinness Book of Records. The Guinness Book of Records, described on Wikipedia as a reference book "listing listing world records and national records, both of human achievements and the extremes of the natural world," has announced Mr. Besigye as the most imprisoned person in one year. He holds this record as the result of being jailed not less than 15 times in the past one year.

Besigye is not a bank robber though. His only crime seems to be having the audacity to contest against Yoweri Museveni, Uganda's leader for the past 30 years. Besigye, who was Museveni's personal physician for many years has been jailed and then released by Museveni many times before the Ugandan presidential elections were held in February. Museveni won by a landslide, amidst protests of widespread rigging, effectively sealing Besigye's fate. His trips to prison didn't stop after the elections as he was arrested again soon after and placed in jail. He is currently on trial for treason (allegedly disobeying police orders during his presidential campaign), being shunted back and forth from jail to his trial like a common criminal. Besigye, who could have easily made Guinness book of record during his presidential campaign, is now a prisoner of democracy.

Besigye

Besigye once sat on a sofa placed on a car in one of his campaigns. Guinness Book of World Records worthy. Inset is the man who gave him the sofa. Credit: www.monitor.co.ug

The jury is still out though on what Yoweri Museveni runs in Uganda as it definitely cannot be labelled a democracy. Museveni left the ideals of democracy long ago, principles he promised the people of Uganda 30 years ago when he first became president. He has been involved in deposing two presidents, including the infamous Idi Amin, defeating Kizza Besigye four times at the elections and is is currently on his fifth term in office.

By the time the next presidential elections arrive, Museveni will be 75 and too old to contest as president of Uganda like its constitution says. However, he has likened his country to a banana plantation once, saying "How can I go out of a banana plantation I have planted that has started bearing fruits?"

Going by the apparent intentions to jail his strongest opposition, Kizza Besigye, for a long time, Museveni's plans to install his son as the next president may go off without any hassle. Museveni's son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, is currently receiving an internship of sorts in Uganda's army and was promoted to Major General this year.

For a man that was once described as a beacon for democracy in Africa, Museveni's arbitrary arrests of opposition members has surely made him an African "big man" (dictator, in other words), like they say in African political circles. His position in the "big men" of Africa cult, which include people like Mugabe, Teodoro Obiang, Eduardo Dos Santos and Idris Deby, is unquestionable. Time will tell whether or not the inference of Besigye's Guinness Book of Records appearance will spark a revolution in Uganda.
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