The future of Uganda is to be decided in a referendum next year, and the results will reverberate throughout eastern and central Africa. Uganda is a key ally of the United States in the ‘war’ on terror and a major party to the conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan.
The nation is lauded around the world for its progress in the fight against AIDS; for its position as a front-line state in the war against terror; for enviable economic growth and as an island of stability in a region full of turmoil. Led by President Yoweri Museveni, who is feted by admirers as an enlightened and fearless warrior intellectual, the nation has been held up as a model for countries across the continent that are struggling to emerge from decades of conflict, poverty and oppression.
Yet now Uganda stands accused of massive and organised illegal expropriation of natural resources from the Congo, crimes in which those close to the president have been found deeply complicit.
