[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 170 (Monday, October 23, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6711-S6712]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 UGANDA

  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I want to speak briefly about the 
situation in Uganda, which should concern all Senators.
  Uganda, located on the Equator in East Africa, has been a friend and 
partner of the United States for many years, particularly in the fight 
against HIV/AIDS. Twenty years ago, Uganda was the epicenter of AIDS in 
Africa. Thousands were dying, testing was nonexistent, condoms were 
outlawed, and the future was bleak. Since then, dramatic progress has 
been made in controlling the disease, although more remains to be done.

[[Page S6712]]

  The United States has also joined in the fight against the Lord's 
Resistance Army, which ravaged northern Uganda for many years. I 
remember a time, not so long ago, when thousands of young children, 
called ``night commuters'' would walk each evening from their remote 
villages into towns where they were protected from being kidnapped by 
the LRA and forced into servitude as child soldiers.
  Throughout that period and to this day, President Museveni has 
remained in power, for five consecutive terms, solidifying his control 
increasingly through repression, including the arrest, imprisonment, 
and even alleged assassination attempts of political opponents and 
social activists. In 2016, at his most recent inauguration after an 
election marred by fraud and intimidation, Sudan's President Bashir, 
indicted by the International Criminal Court, was an invited guest.
  In 2012, President Museveni announced that he would ``certainly not'' 
seek to remain in office after age 75, consistent with article 102(b) 
of Uganda's Constitution; yet today, with the next Presidential 
election scheduled for 2021, an effort is underway in Uganda's 
Parliament, presumably with President Museveni's blessing, to amend the 
constitution to eliminate the age limit. If successful, Museveni could 
remain President for life, in the tradition of other African strongmen 
like Robert Mugabe.
  There is no law against amending the constitution. Our own 
Constitution poses no such age limit on Presidents or Members of 
Congress, but doing so for the obvious purpose of perpetuating the 
increasingly autocratic rule of a serving President, who has used the 
security forces to silence his opposition and who has systematically 
undermined the possibility of a free election, is wrong.
  Such an outcome would be a tragedy for democracy and the rule of law 
in Uganda, at a time when corruption, economic stagnation, and internal 
strife are propelling Uganda backwards. The United States and the 
international community have provided Uganda with billions of dollars 
in aid since 1986 when President Museveni first came to power. I 
supported that investment in Uganda's social, economic, and political 
stability, and President Museveni deserves credit for many positive 
developments in Uganda since the horrific years of his brutal 
predecessors, Idi Amin and Milton Obote; yet today much of that 
investment is at risk of being squandered.
  Ultimately this is a decision for the representatives of the Ugandan 
people, but I hope the Ugandan Parliament recognizes what is at stake, 
not only for the people of Uganda and for the future of democracy and 
stability in that country, but for future support from the United 
States and the international community.
  (At the request of Mr. Schumer, the following statement was ordered 
to be printed in the Record.)

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