After 30 years at the State House, President Yoweri Museveni, or "M7" to use his campaign nickname, is aiming at the age of 71 to obtain a fifth mandate, which he hopes to win thanks to his hold on the machinery of state and the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), as well as to his strong family connections. He is going to find it hard, however, given his age, to reach the end of this final mandate in 2021.
By way of preparation for the power struggle which will start after his departure, a number of members of his family, including his wife, Janet and his brother Salim Saleh, are already seeking to strengthen their power basses within NRM. For the presidential family, which is present at all levels in the regime, will not allow itself to be dispossessed of its rank. Such is the case for the first lady, who, apart from being a minister and member of parliament, has built up clan of her own around her family and her Christian Pentecostal network.
M7's young brother, General Salim Saleh, who is a hero of the armed struggle of the 1980s, has successfully combined his private activities with his duties as presidential adviser, while still maintaining his connections within the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) and the NRM.
Thanks to his father's position as head of state, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, head of the Special Forces Command (SFC), has control of the security of the president and that of the country's oil fields. His three sisters, Natasha, Patience and Diana and their respective husbands, all Christian evangelists of the Hima ethnic group, reinforce the presence of the Musevenis in business circles.
Other dignitaries, relations of Janet by marriage like Sam Kutesa, Jim Muhwezi and Henry Tumukunde, also play roles of varying importance within this presidential spider's web.
By way of preparation for the power struggle which will start after his departure, a number of members of his family, including his wife, Janet and his brother Salim Saleh, are already seeking to strengthen their power basses within NRM. For the presidential family, which is present at all levels in the regime, will not allow itself to be dispossessed of its rank. Such is the case for the first lady, who, apart from being a minister and member of parliament, has built up clan of her own around her family and her Christian Pentecostal network.
M7's young brother, General Salim Saleh, who is a hero of the armed struggle of the 1980s, has successfully combined his private activities with his duties as presidential adviser, while still maintaining his connections within the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) and the NRM.
Thanks to his father's position as head of state, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, head of the Special Forces Command (SFC), has control of the security of the president and that of the country's oil fields. His three sisters, Natasha, Patience and Diana and their respective husbands, all Christian evangelists of the Hima ethnic group, reinforce the presence of the Musevenis in business circles.
Other dignitaries, relations of Janet by marriage like Sam Kutesa, Jim Muhwezi and Henry Tumukunde, also play roles of varying importance within this presidential spider's web.