Cartoonist and political commentator Jim Spire Ssentongo has drawn a sharp contrast between President Yoweri Museveni’s early popularity and his contested hold on power today.
In a reflective post on X, Ssentongo recalled growing up in Masaka during Museveni’s first years in office, when excitement around the President was genuine and widespread.
He described how teachers would make pupils line the roads to welcome him without any payment, how children sang “Amba Museveni” with joy, and how his image was proudly drawn in exercise books as a symbol of hope and sacrifice.
“At that time, Museveni’s rallies filled up naturally without mobilisation or ferrying people,” Ssentongo wrote. “We even looked forward to his speeches.”
He contrasted that era with the present, where the President’s electoral victories are often achieved under a tightly controlled system that includes state appointees, restrictive laws, security agencies, and an uneven playing field for opposition parties.
Ssentongo argued that celebrating Museveni’s ability to scrape just above 50 percent in such elections is evidence of decline rather than strength.
“Those who celebrate when he scores 50s in an election he organises himself with his own appointees, laws, judiciary, police and military, do not really understand what they’re acknowledging. It is like a veteran teacher scoring 50 in his own exam and screaming in celebration," he wrote.
His remarks add to growing public debate over Museveni’s legacy and the direction of Uganda’s politics.