It was a parable from the Bible, one that bore a striking resemblance to a personal comparison. In June 2025, during his state of the nation address, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni quoted extensively from the Gospel of Matthew, recounting the story of two builders: “The wise builder, who built his house on the rock; and the foolish builder, who built his house on the sand.” “When the rain, floods and wind came upon both houses, that of the foolish man was swept away, because its foundation was weak; while the one of the wise man remained standing, because its foundation was firm and strong,” narrated the aging leader, who has meticulously cemented the foundations of his rule since taking power in Uganda in 1986.

At 81, Museveni is once again the candidate of his party, the National Resistance Movement (NRM), in the presidential election on Thursday, January 15, which also includes legislative and local elections. The former Marxist rebel is running for a seventh term, after four decades of increasingly personified rule marked by nepotism, weakened institutions and the silencing of the opposition. Internet access was cut two days before the vote, and human rights organizations condemned a surge in repression in recent weeks, with a rise in arbitrary arrests and violence by security forces.

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