Crime and political thrillers that feel uncomfortably real.

Muhoozi represents the military and security side of the Museveni system, together with his Patriotic League of Uganda mobilization group. Rwabwogo represents a more civilian and economic side, with connections in business, government and the bureaucracy. Neither man is really standing outside the Museveni system asking how Uganda can escape it. They are both positioning themselves inside it. That is why I think Ugandans should be careful about treating this feud

Museveni wants Uganda to stay in his family. He wants his sons to take power after him. He is afraid the world will speak out. If someone close to him becomes the boss of the United Nations, that world body may stay quiet. Then Museveni can pass power to his sons and hide his crimes.

President Yoweri Museveni has had a busy August. His family has been collecting achievements like a royal family collecting medals, degrees and photographs. And each celebration tells us something about what Museveni’s version of Pan-Africanism has become. The “Pan” has disappeared. What remains is the family. Welcome to Pan-Familism.

Every time a new rebel rose up with a mouth too big and a crowd too loud, Daddy would send a messenger. Not a threat. Not a bullet. A sack of money. Just enough to buy silence…or at least turn the fire into smoke. They’d take it. Every single one. Setup businesses, buy land, build towers with their siblings’ names carved in stone. And in return? They played opposition like it was theater. Great actors. No plot. Except for one fool.

Many people see these deployments as peacekeeping missions. They are that. But they are also something else. They have quietly become one of the strongest pillars keeping President Museveni and his family in power.