From Uganda to Cameroon, how Africa’s ‘leaders for life’ stay in power

The home of every Ugandan president, State House, is nestled in the hilly uptown Nasakero area of the capital city, Kampala.

For four decades, it has been home to just one president – Yoweri Museveni, who has been in office longer than any other Ugandan leader.
Following Thursday’s election, Museveni’s tight hold on the country has been extended for the seventh time. Although he faced his biggest challenger in the form of popular opposition candidate and musician Robert “Bobi Wine” Kyagulanyi, the country’s electoral commission declared that Museveni had won with 72 percent of the vote.

At 81, Museveni is the third-longest serving president in the world.

His control over Uganda, analysts say, is absolute, and the appointment of his son, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, as army chief back in 2024 has prompted worries among activists of a dynastic succession plan in the near future.

In a young country where about 70 percent of the 46 million population is under 35, Museveni is the only president most Ugandans have ever known. By the time he completes his latest term in 2031, he will have served for 45 years.

However, he is not alone. Across Africa, from hilly Kampala to riverside Brazzaville, several “life-long” leaders like him have held onto power for decades, despite organising routine elections that give their administrations the semblance of democratic rule.

Political experts studying these figures say at least three of them: Museveni of Uganda, Paul Biya of Cameroon, and Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of the Congo, have perfected unique formulas that help them consolidate power, using tools like compromised elections, divide and rule tactics, and powerful foreign alliances.
In Uganda, fighting corruption ‘with corruption’
For Museveni, violence is used as a means to suppress dissent and keep allies in check, Kampala-based political analyst Job Kiija told Al Jazeera.

The regional strongman was first sworn in as president back in 1986, after he led the rebel National Resistance Army to overturn an unpopular civilian administration in a violent six-year conflict now known as the Ugandan Bush War. He has remained president under the rebranded National Resistance Movement.

Museveni’s ideas of leadership were likely shaped early on, as a political science student in neighbouring Tanzania, researchers note. At the time, he studied philosopher and anti-colonial theorist Frantz Fanon’s theory of violence.

Violence, Fanon wrote in his book, The Wretched of the Earth, was the highest form of political struggle, one necessary for decolonisation. In his final year thesis (PDF), Museveni focused on that theory and wholly supported the philosopher’s position.

Rather than apply that thinking to a colonial force, however, Museveni has unleashed it on opposition leaders, journalists, and activists in Uganda, Kiija said.

In 2020, when Bobi Wine first emerged on the political scene under the umbrella of the National Unity Party, the opposition candidate immediately garnered widespread support, particularly from young people. Ugandan forces, however, responded forcefully to his rallies, killing many Bobi Wine supporters.

The same scenarios played out in the lead-up to this month’s election. Security forces targeted opposition rallies with excessive force and subjected opposition supporters to arbitrary arrests and torture, according to a report from rights group Amnesty International.

Opposition figures are also routinely jailed in Uganda. Kizza Besigye, a Museveni ally turned four-time presidential candidate, has been imprisoned since November 2024 on accusations of plotting to remove Museveni. He faces a treason charge, which is punishable by death in the country.

Within his own camp, Kiija said, Museveni deliberately allows his allies to overstep their boundaries, and then holds their actions over their heads to deter dissent.

“He allows people around him to dip their hands in state coffers, so that they are soiled, and then he uses that against them,” the analyst said.“Everyone around him – he has a portfolio on them, he knows how much you have stolen, what you have amassed, and that’s one of the reasons we can’t fight corruption because he uses that as a tool to keep people in check.”

Uganda has suffered political instability since its independence from Britain in 1962. The British colonialists employed indirect rule and appointed members of the majority Buganda tribe to important positions, while excluding others. Post-colonial Uganda’s instability and weak institutions are partly attributed to that history, experts say.

In 2005, the Ugandan parliament removed term limits from the constitution, paving the way for Museveni to run indefinitely.

Although rich in gold, oil, and cash crops like coffee, the country is reliant on Western aid. Museveni positions the country as a stabilising force in the Great Lakes region, contributing troops to regional missions, such as in the fight against the al-Shabab armed group in Somalia, thus gaining Western support.

Uganda also hosts two million refugees from South Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Sudan – more than any other African nation.

Among its biggest donors is the United States. Washington contributed about $970m in yearly development aid, mainly for health and humanitarian needs, although US concerns over democratic backsliding and Uganda’s criminalisation of same-sex relations strained ties. The current Trump administration has, however, severely cut aid globally, affecting the country.

While Museveni was the clear favourite to win Thursday’s vote, Bobi Wine has dismissed the results as “fake”. Meanwhile, eyes are now on how Museveni’s eldest child, Kainerugaaba, will be positioned in the near future. The 51-year-old, Kiija said, is clearly being groomed for the top job.