The riding of a ‘mad tiger’ called Uganda

COMMENT | OBED K KATUREEBE | Seasoned politician and Democratic Party (DP) President who is also the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Norbert Mao, in one of his philosophical and witty remarks, described leading Uganda as being as tough as riding a mad tiger. Meaning you have to be very brave and extraordinarily skilled to remain on the back of a mad tiger, as, using its immense energy, it can easily throw you off in a second.

Mao made the observation in positive praise of President Yoweri Museveni who has led Uganda for close to 40 years now. To Mao, this was no mean achievement given Uganda’s history, and therefore he urged Ugandans to give him the respect he deserves.

Imagine, from 1962, when Uganda attained her independence, to 1986, when President Yoweri Museveni came to power, Uganda had changed presidents for a record seven times. And all those changes involved violent military interventions.

Mao could therefore not have described Uganda in any other phraseology than that.

The reasons Uganda became ‘a mad tiger’ are largely associated with her history. Uganda was never a single political entity at the time of its creation by the British colonialists.  The colonizers forcefully created the Ugandan state through merging several kingdoms, several chiefdoms, and several tribes and clans to form a country called Uganda.

In fact, these kingdoms and chiefdoms were always at war with each other. Therefore, the colonialists forced us into a union that became difficult to unite. Consequently, the post-independence elites who took the reins of power failed to achieve that much-needed unity and coexistence.

People like Dr Milton Obote, Sir Edward Mutesa, Grace Ibingira, and John Kakonge et al. failed to achieve unity of these nations that made the entity called Uganda, and what followed until 1986 is everybody’s knowledge.

While canvassing for votes across the country in the ongoing electoral campaigns, Museveni’s catchword is preserving the peace that Ugandans have enjoyed for some time now. In fact, it is the biggest gain that must be jealously protected because it is the anchor for other gains, in our socioeconomic transformation journey.

Without a doubt, for Uganda to witness radical transformation, we have to keep on attracting foreign capital because we are still too small an economy to do it ourselves.  It took a lot of persuasion and guaranteeing security in Uganda for investors to begin flocking in and bringing capital and the much-needed expertise that Ugandans are benefiting from.

Investors provide numerous benefits to developing economies, primarily through capital injection, job creation, and the transfer of essential skills and technology, which act as a catalyst for broader economic development and global integration.  All these facilitate the growing of the economy for the benefit of all the citizens.

Peace is a fundamental component of development, acting as both a prerequisite and a result of progress, as violent conflict disrupts essential systems like education, healthcare, and commerce. A peaceful environment fosters social stability, trust, and cooperation, which are essential for development to occur. This relationship is recognized in global frameworks like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG 16, which aims to promote peaceful and inclusive societies.

For some time, none of the global investors thought of investing in Uganda. Uganda was synonymous with civil wars and military coups. All that scepticism has since changed. Big investors are comfortably flocking to the country for big investments. Take the example of companies like Total and CNOOC and, until recently Tullow. These are investing billions of dollars in the oil extraction in the Albertine Region. The construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) from Hoima to Tanga in Tanzania is one of the milestone investments Uganda is experiencing because of guaranteed peace.

The cost of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) from Hoima, Uganda, to Tanga, Tanzania, has risen to $5 billion. Its benefits to Uganda include significant job creation, opportunities for local businesses, increased foreign investment, technology transfer, and the potential to de-risk other oil and gas projects in the country.

Uganda has witnessed massive Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) in the telecoms sector, in the banking sector, in agro industrialization, manufacturing and in the services sector. All these are taking place because of the prevailing peace in the country.

Uganda remains the island of peace in the region. It is no wonder that Uganda is the second country in the whole world hosting the biggest number of refugees. These people trek in from across the world because of guaranteed peace and, of course, the best and most hospitable refugee policy that Uganda extends to refugees.

The question is, as we roll to January 15^th 2026 to elect our leaders, should we retain the status quo to maintain this progress or……? My honest take is that Ugandans should to maintain the status quo since the driver is still full of stamina and the correct vision.

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The writer is the Acting Executive Director, Uganda Media Centre.