US-Backed Strongman Declared Winner, Again: Stability First!
Deutsche Welle reports that Yoweri Museveni, now in his fifth decade in power, has once again been declared the undisputed winner by Uganda's election commission. This headline arrives with the sort of detached neutrality typically reserved for weather reports, glossing over the rather inconvenient fact that Uganda's 'elections' have been consistently decried as rigged, violent, and utterly
undemocratic for years. (One might wonder how a 'commission' can be taken seriously when it perpetually confirms the same outcome.) What the mainstream narrative consistently buries is the extensive and ongoing financial and military support Museveni has enjoyed from Western powers, particularly the United States. According to the Congressional Research Service, the U.S. has provided Uganda with
hundreds of millions in security assistance and development aid—money that, critics argue, has solidified Museveni's authoritarian regime rather than fostering genuine democracy. This isn't just about 'Uganda's choice'; it's about a 'choice' largely facilitated by foreign policy preferences for 'stability' (read: compliant dictators) over democratic principles. It appears some strongmen are more
equal than others when it comes to international legitimacy.