Uganda’s young voters weigh continuity against change as Museveni seeks another term

By The Inspirer.

As Uganda heads to the polls, a striking paradox defines the race: one of the world’s youngest countries is once again being asked whether it wants to extend the rule of an 81-year-old president.

Across campaign grounds and roadside rallies, it is young people who dominate the political theatre—singing party songs, waving flags, filming speeches on their phones.

Clad in the ruling party’s bright yellow or the opposition’s revolutionary red, their energy underscores how youth-driven Uganda’s politics has become, even as power remains firmly in the hands of an ageing elite, the BBC reports.

At an opposition rally in south-western Uganda, Steven Bagasha Byaruhanga told the BBC he believes opposition leader Bobi Wine represents hope for change.

“If he gets to power, I believe he will take the country to a certain point in terms of development,” he said, urging voters to give the former pop star a chance to lead.

Not all young voters share that view. Ndyasima Patrick, who also attended the rally, said he remains loyal to President Yoweri Museveni. “He has kept us alive all these years,” Patrick told the BBC.

While acknowledging Bobi Wine’s qualifications, he argued that the opposition leader’s time has not yet come.

Thursday’s presidential election is a rematch of the 2021 contest, pitting Museveni—who has ruled Uganda for four decades—against 43-year-old Bobi Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi.

According to the BBC, the contest has again energised a youthful electorate in a country where the median age is just 17.

Museveni’s National Resistance Movement (NRM) is campaigning on continuity under the slogan “Protecting the Gains,” highlighting stability and achievements made since the end of years of conflict.

NRM spokesperson Emmanuel Lumala Dombo told the BBC that Uganda has moved from being a major source of refugees to becoming Africa’s largest host.

By contrast, Bobi Wine’s National Unity Platform (NUP) is urging voters to cast what it calls a “Protest Vote,” tapping into frustration among young Ugandans facing unemployment, limited opportunities and political exclusion. “This election is about liberation… about people asserting their voices,” Bobi Wine told the BBC.

The stakes extend beyond the personalities involved. As the BBC notes, Uganda’s election exposes a deeper tension common across parts of Africa: a rapidly growing youth population seeking change, and political systems still dominated by leaders who came to power decades ago—and have never left.

Source: BBC