Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has been sworn in for a seventh term in office, extending his nearly 40-year rule after winning the country’s controversial January presidential election.
Museveni, 81, took the oath of office on Tuesday during a ceremony held at the Kololo Independence Grounds in Kampala, Uganda’s capital, where thousands of supporters gathered to witness the event.
According to Uganda’s Electoral Commission, Museveni secured 71.65 percent of the vote in the January election.
Opposition leader Bobi Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, came second with 24.72 percent and rejected the outcome, alleging widespread ballot stuffing and electoral irregularities.
The election was conducted amid a nationwide internet blackout and reports of intimidation, arrests and abductions targeting opposition supporters.
Museveni, one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, first came to power in 1986 as a rebel leader after years of political instability in Uganda.
Since then, he has won seven elections and twice amended the constitution to remove presidential term and age limits.
Ironically, Museveni once stated that Africa’s biggest problem was leaders who overstayed in power.
Despite criticism, many Ugandans credit him with restoring stability and overseeing economic growth after years of turmoil that followed the country’s independence from British colonial rule in 1962.
Museveni now joins a small group of African leaders who have remained in power for more than four decades, including Congo-Brazzaville’s Denis Sassou Nguesso, Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang and Cameroon’s Paul Biya.
In his inauguration speech, Museveni said his administration would use expected revenue from Uganda’s planned oil production to expand the economy and reduce poverty.
Several African leaders attended the ceremony, including Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan, Democratic Republic of Congo President Félix Tshisekedi, South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
Uganda has one of the youngest populations in the world, with a large number of citizens having known no other president besides Museveni.
Although Museveni has not publicly stated when he plans to retire, political analysts believe this may likely be his final term in office.
