America’s Favorite Strongman

This picture says it all.

The US envoy standing there, smiling, while shaking a hand, like Uganda hasn’t been under one man for 40 years. It tells every Ugandan and every African a hard truth. The United States still backs Museveni. Not quietly. Not by accident. On purpose.

Because he’s useful.

In this part of the world, America doesn’t pick leaders. It picks tools. And once it finds one that works, it holds on tight.

Human rights, democracy, freedom those are nice words for speeches. Interests come first.

And Museveni delivers.

From Congo to Somalia to Sudan to Burundi, he sends troops where others hesitate. Where America doesn’t want its own boots in the mud, he steps in without blinking.

No questions. No hesitation.

That’s the deal.

And in that deal, Africans are not the priority. They’re the cost.

— Yasin Kakande  

Author of The Missing Corpse