SPIEGEL
speaks with Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled Uganda for three decades, about the
West's role in fostering African Islamist terror, his opposition to the
International Criminal Court and whether he is himself abusing his power.
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*President Museveni and his wife, Janet |
SPIEGEL: Mr. President, as a young politician you castigated
autocratic African leaders who ruled for their entire
lives. When you came to power, you changed the constitution so you could stay
in office longer. It has been 30 years now. When will you leave?
Museveni: My critics always
forget to mention that I was democratically elected, the others were not.
Everyone in Uganda
can challenge me, everyone can vote, the elections are free. Not many countries
have achieved what we did. One third of the seats in parliament are reserved
for women, five seats for youth, five for workers, five for the disabled and 10
for the army. How many democracies with such a record do you know?
SPIEGEL: So far, the political party system has yet to succeed in Uganda. Your
only serious challenger, Kizza Besigye, has been arrested repeatedly.
International observers certified the recent election as unfair, and on one day
during the election campaign, you were on television for 12 hours while your
opponent was only on for four minutes. Is this democracy?
Museveni: Our laws and
institutions are excellent, but the population is not yet ready. They must
develop their views and need to be provided with the right information. We now
also have private broadcasters and many are very critical of me, hostile even,
yet they operate freely.
SPIEGEL: Aren't you afraid of an African rebellion similar to the
Arab Spring? Uganda's
rapidly growing population is young, globally connected and its biggest problem
is the lack of jobs and the feeling of not being able to breach the old
leadership structures.
Museveni: Our population is
growing rapidly because of our good health policy. When I came into office,
there were 14 million Ugandans, today there are 38 million, despite the
catastrophe of AIDS, which we have also tackled. The Ugandans know and
appreciate this, especially the elderly. This makes it very unlikely that Uganda will face a chaotic scenario similar to
that in Syria
or other places. Incidentally, doctors, scientists, engineers and nurses are
highly sought after and find jobs immediately.
SPIEGEL: Last year, 1.3 million refugees came to Germany, mainly from Syria,
Iraq and Afghanistan, but also from Africa.
Many believe this is only the beginning of an exodus to Europe.
What do you suggest to stop this wave of migrants?
Museveni: Mistakes were made.
But I would prefer to talk about these issues in detail with your political
leaders.
SPIEGEL: Is this in reference
to the wars in the Middle East or the uprisings in Libya
and Tunisia?
Museveni: When the problems in Libya started,
the African Union set up a committee to address the situation. We urgently
advised the Europeans not to intervene. You have done so anyway. Now we are
seeing absolute chaos there.