Viewed as an evil by his opponents at home but yet a necessary evil to the world’s superpowers for their geopolitical interests on the African continent.
President Museveni’s consistency in advocating for African interests and values has won him both respect and recognition from his fellow counterparts in the international community.
Former United Kingdom Premier Boris Johnson, in his recently released new book “UNLEASHED,” Chapter 26, page 258 describes Museveni as an ancient bush fighter who is important for the peace in the region.
He also confessed that, much as he disagrees with Museveni on some aspects, he is very crucial on the continent and cannot be isolated.
“I spent happy hours talking to Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni, that ancient bush fighter who is so important for the peace of the region, from Somalia to the Congo to Sudan. He is crucial, and though we may disapprove of some of his prejudices (such as his 2014 ban on gay sex), we have to engage with him more, or else he will just talk to others instead,” Johnson writes in UNLEASHED.
From Johnson’s revelations, Museveni’s disagreement with the West isn’t about governance or human rights as portrayed but his strong resistance to what is not African. His strong conviction for African interests and values threatens the interests of the West on the continent.
Although viewed as evil, the West must keep engaging him because they are aware of his strategic influence in the changing global balance of power and the need for allies.
There’s no doubt that the West (America and Europe) for decades have been looking at Museveni as a stabilizing force within the Great Lakes region that is volatile with different ethnic identities with multiple interests and, of course, naturally endowed.
His unwavering commitment to Pan-Africanism and African interests has earned him respect and influence on the continent.
By nature, mankind is ungrateful for what they have, and we tend to regret it when it’s out of our reach.
Most elites today in Uganda have made it a career and schemes for survival by moving around in both local and Western media, tarnishing the image of Uganda, the country they call home, and the President whom they have baptized all sorts of evil names.
Due to ignorance in geopolitics, these enemies of progress do all this to impress their friends with the same motives, expecting the West to isolate and sanction the Ugandan government, forgetting that at the international level, states have interests and not friends.
The issue of interests is very critical and states fiercely protect their interests when dealing with other sovereign states regardless of their supremacy, both economically, politically, or militarily. This challenges everyone, especially the elites, to learn more about geopolitical influence and state relations.