The President Comes to Town

On February 18^th, Uganda will hold its Presidential elections and political campaign posters have been plastered everywhere for months. But on Monday, Uganda’s current President Y.K. Museveni came to Nyahuka—a truly historic event! The day began like any other Monday; Zainabo and Susana arrived in the morning ready to wash dishes and clothes (a true blessing in a place where daily life takes such time and effort!). We started to cut up mangoes and heard a wide variety of reports as to when Museveni would arrive. We heard motorcycles beeping in the road and decided to set out in search of the President.

As we drove down the road, I was amazed at the sea of yellow that downtown Nyahuka had become. (Yellow is the color of the NRM; Museveni’s political party) Everyone was searching for the funds to buy official Museveni t-shirts and all kind of campaigning merchandise appeared out of nowhere. You could buy Museveni shirts, baseball hats, visors, noisemakers, badges, and so much more. I’ve never before seen anything closer to true commercialism in Bundibugyo.

We kept driving towards the official venue and the road was literally filled with people walking there, carrying NRM campaign posters on sticks and there was a general feeling of excitement and camaraderie. Our car slowly pushed through the crowds and we entered even more crowds as we got in line for the security checks. It amazed me that there was a metal detector all the way out here! After getting a thorough pat-down, we entered and scoped out a good vantage point to see the action but not be suffocated by a huge crowd. Empty windowsills of a half-finished school classroom set on a hill were perfect. The six of us perched ourselves like birds and enjoyed the sunshine and cool breeze while we waited. More and more people were pouring in, traditional dances began, and we gave into the excitement by buying visors with the colors of the Ugandan flag.

Eventually, soldiers had us move out of the windowsills as we were blocking their view for security purposes. At this point, our mzungu skin came in handy and we were able to sit under one of the two tents seemingly reserved for VIPs. We had fourth row seats to the action and listened to a lot of other candidates as they campaigned for their positions. We listened to Lubwisi and we waited. And waited. And waited some more. We weren’t surprised by the waiting but it was still warm and we’d skipped lunch. My excitement was waning by the time Museveni finally arrived with his entourage but the experience was still fascinating. It was difficult to tell all that was happening since little to none of the dialogue was in English. But it was quite an experience to be sitting in the middle of a political rally in rural Uganda.

I won’t share my personal thoughts about the political situation in Uganda; I don’t feel I’ve been here long enough to make many judgments anyway. But it was an honor to see the President and have such a unique cultural experience so close to my new home of Nyahuka! You can be praying for a peaceful and corruption-free election process as February 18 draws closer too.

A historic event--the first ever traffic jam in Nyahuka.