President Museveni addresses supporters at a public gathering in Uganda.
Yoweri Museveni recently secured a seventh presidential term in an election that international observers called deeply flawed. In office since 1986, his nearly four decades in power present a genuine paradox: Uganda’s GDP has surged from $6.7 billion to $65 billion and poverty has fallen from 56% to 16%—yet wealth remains concentrated among politically connected elites. As Uganda prepares to launch commercial oil production in mid-2026, observers fear the status quo will become more entrenched. Museveni’s inner circle and political loyalists will continue to monopolize economic opportunities, while ordinary Ugandans will remain trapped in a cycle of poverty and unemployment. In the long term, this risks creating conditions for political instability, particularly since Museveni’s actions over time have shrunk the country’s democratic space.
African Business