Skip to content
Yoweri Museveni

Yoweri Museveni

-100

Net harmfulFormula-derived score

The through-line is a living ruler who removed the age cap, ran closed ballots against Robert Kyagulanyi, assented to a death-penalty homosexuality statute, and put his son over the army — not a 1986 liberation clerk. Still in office after the 17 January 2026 Electoral Commission return. The largest negative contribution to the formula-derived score is “Electoral Commission declares Museveni winner with 71.65 percent for a seventh term” (2026).

Top harm

Electoral Commission declares Museveni winner with 71.65 percent for a seventh term

−206 pts

NRM personalist presidential incumbencydynastic succession via the armycivic-space criminalisation of opposition and NGOs

Impact

Biggest harms and offsets: signed contributions to the formula-derived score, ranked by size.

Biggest harms

Lowers the score

2 more ranked below in Timeline and Related.

Editorial assessment (context, not the score)

The heaviest documented costs sit on three clusters, not on a personality adjective.

First, a clock that no longer runs out. On 27 December 2017 he assented to the Constitution (Amendment) Act that struck the 75-year presidential age cap. Parliament had passed the bill on 20 December. ULII stores the Act as Act 1 of 2018, gazetted 5 January 2018. Constitutional Court later struck some neighbouring clauses; the age-cap removal stood. Electoral integrity and capacity for peaceful transfer of power are the drivers, not a Soviet repression row.

Second, election-cycle force around Kyagulanyi. OHCHR’s 12 January 2021 note recorded that between 18 and 20 November 2020 at least 54 people were killed after the arrest of the opposition presidential candidate. Human Rights Watch recorded the government’s own admission of 54 dead. This page does not invent a unique integer or treat 54 as a size. On 16 January 2021 the Commission declared 6,042,898 votes (58.38 percent). On 17 January 2026 it declared 7,946,772 (71.65 percent) after the 15 January poll. Blinken’s 16 April 2021 visa-restriction statement called 2021 “neither free nor fair.”

Third, statutes and succession. He assented to the Anti-Homosexuality Act on 26 May 2023 (death-penalty maximum for aggravated homosexuality). He appointed Muhoozi Kainerugaba CDF on 21 March 2024. He assented to the Protection of Sovereignty Act on 17 May 2026. OHCHR’s 30 July 2026 statement recorded post-election disappearances, NGO suspensions, and that statute. Confidence is high on ULII/EC/OHCHR locators and medium where contested protester identities sit between a government “rioter” label and an OHCHR civilian. This paragraph is an assessment of those paths, not a substitute number.

Indicators affected

Sorted by the size of this person’s signed contribution. The observed state is the indicator’s own reading, not this person’s doing.

Accountability & contradictions

Claims against the record, the type of responsibility, and what is disputed.

Responsibility

What could change this assessment

  • Lifetime coverage has not been assessed: the record reflects stored facts only (2017–2026).

Causal path

Person → Fact → Driver → Indicator. Select a path to inspect its factors; the full network opens on demand.

  1. PersonYoweri Museveni
  2. FactElectoral Commission declares Museveni winner with 71.65 percent for a seventh term
  3. DriverMuseveni incumbency and civic squeeze
  4. IndicatorHaving a say in government
−206 pts

Contribution size 1 · Responsibility 0.5 · Fact impact 1 · Driver weight 1 · Driver → indicator −0.8 · Indicator importance 0.8 · Deviation factor −3 · Confidence 1

  1. PersonYoweri Museveni
  2. FactMuseveni assents to Protection of Sovereignty Act restricting foreign-funded civic work
  3. DriverMuseveni incumbency and civic squeeze
  4. IndicatorHaving a say in government
−203 pts

Contribution size 1 · Responsibility 0.5 · Fact impact 1 · Driver weight 1 · Driver → indicator −0.8 · Indicator importance 0.8 · Deviation factor −3 · Confidence 1

Timeline

The most relevant dated facts, newest first.

  1. 17 May 2026 · Museveni incumbency and civic squeeze

    Museveni assents to Protection of Sovereignty Act restricting foreign-funded civic work
    −203 pts

  2. 17 January 2026 · Museveni incumbency and civic squeeze

    Electoral Commission declares Museveni winner with 71.65 percent for a seventh term
    −206 pts

  3. 21 March 2024 · Museveni incumbency and civic squeeze

    Museveni appoints son Muhoozi Kainerugaba Chief of Defence Forces

  4. 26 May 2023 · Museveni incumbency and civic squeeze

    Museveni assents to Anti-Homosexuality Act including death penalty for aggravated homosexuality
    −50 pts

  5. 16 January 2021 · Museveni incumbency and civic squeeze

    Electoral Commission declares Museveni winner with 58.38 percent after internet shutdown
    −54 pts

  6. 18 November 2020 · Civic Space

    Security forces kill protesters after Bobi Wine arrest; OHCHR records at least 54 dead
    −51 pts

Evidence & methodology

How the record is sourced and how the score is derived.

7 of 7 linked facts verified, drawing on 7 distinct sources (2017–2026).

Sources include OHCHR, Electoral Commission of Uganda, Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs, Uganda, ULII / Judiciary of Uganda.

Sources

  1. 1.OHCHR — Uganda: crackdown on fundamental freedoms, 30 July 2026 (records May 2026 Protection of Sovereignty enactment)OHCHR
  2. 2.museveni-incumbency-and-civic-squeeze observation 2026-01-17Electoral Commission of Uganda
  3. 3.Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs — UPDF Leadership (President as CIC; Muhoozi as CDF)Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs, Uganda
  4. 4.ULII — Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023 (assent 26 May 2023; gazette 30 May 2023)ULII / Judiciary of Uganda
  5. 5.Electoral Commission of Uganda — Publishing of the Final Results for Presidential Elections 2021Electoral Commission of Uganda
  6. 6.OHCHR press briefing notes on Uganda, 12 January 2021OHCHR
  7. 7.ULII — Constitution (Amendment) Act, 2018 (Act 1 of 2018), Uganda Gazette 1 of 5 January 2018ULII / Judiciary of Uganda

The score is formula-derived (Factrail formula v1, version 1.0.0), not an editorial verdict. Read the methodology.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed · Sources: 7

Expert analysis

An excerpt; the full analysis opens on request.

Identity and office

Yoweri Museveni has been president of Uganda since 29 January 1986. He remains commander-in-chief. He does not write OHCHR notes. He does command the UPDF that those notes address. He was 81 at the 15 January 2026 poll. He remains in office after the 17 January declaration.

The clock file is official. On 27 December 2017 he assented to the Constitution (Amendment) Act removing Article 102(b)’s 75-year cap (ULII Act 1 of 2018 (opens in a new tab); Monitor, 2 January 2018 (opens in a new tab)). Parliament had voted on 20 December. Court later nullified some neighbouring term-extension clauses. The age-cap removal stood.

The force file is a UN product. OHCHR recorded that 18–20 November 2020 killings after Robert Kyagulanyi’s arrest left at least 54 dead (OHCHR, 12 January 2021 (opens in a new tab)). Human Rights Watch recorded the same cluster and the government’s admission (HRW, 21 January 2021 (opens in a new tab)). Museveni later said only some families would be compensated, calling others rioters. Contested. This page does not invent a unique death total. Kyagulanyi is an unresolved person candidate.

The ballot file is official. The Electoral Commission’s 2021 final table gave him 6,042,898 votes, 58.38 percent, after a nationwide internet shutdown (EC, 16 January 2021 neighbourhood (opens in a new tab)). On 17 January 2026 Justice Simon Byabakama declared 7,946,772 votes, 71.65 percent, after the 15 January poll (New York Times, 17 January 2026 (opens in a new tab)). Antony Blinken is the counterpart on the 16 April 2021 visa-restriction statement: “neither free nor fair.”

The statute file is gazetted. He assented to the Anti-Homosexuality Act on 26 May 2023 (ULII (opens in a new tab); AP, 30 May 2023 (opens in a new tab)). Life imprisonment for homosexuality; death-penalty maximum for aggravated homosexuality. He assented to the Protection of Sovereignty Act on 17 May 2026 (FIDH, 27 July 2026 (opens in a new tab); OHCHR, 30 July 2026 (opens in a new tab)). Foreign-funding restrictions and prison terms. Not a Soviet Glavlit row.

The succession file is a defence-ministry statement. On 21 March 2024 he appointed Muhoozi Kainerugaba Chief of Defence Forces (Reuters, 22 March 2024 (opens in a new tab); UPDF leadership (opens in a new tab)). Muhoozi is unresolved. Both have denied a “Muhoozi Project.” The appointment is dated regardless.

Documented benefits

The offsets that a commissioned-positive portrait would lead with are real only where dated, and they are not this assignment’s through-line. Relative security after 1986 and early HIV-treatment policy are neighbouring files. They are not a rebate of 27 December 2017, November 2020, or 26 May 2023. This page does not invent a development-miracle driver to offset those instruments.

Contributions and limits of responsibility

He assented to the age-limit Act, the 2023 Act, and the 2026 sovereignty Act. He is commander-in-chief on the November 2020 file. He ran and was certified in 2021 and 2026. The Commission tabulated. OHCHR wrote the death language. Parliament passed bills. Sharing execution is not a reason to drop the row. It is a reason not to invent a unique protester integer as a size. Kyagulanyi and Muhoozi remain names on this file, not invented biographies.

Causal chain through facts

2017 age-limit assent strengthens the owned incumbency-squeeze driver and weakens electoral integrity and transfer capacity. November 2020 and the two EC returns strengthen the same owned driver and weaken civic space and electoral integrity. The 2023 Act weakens minority-rights protection. The 2024 CDF appointment weakens transfer capacity. The 2026 sovereignty Act weakens civic space. They do not hang on territorial-revisionism, proxy-war-intensity, or Ukraine. He connects to those mechanisms only through dated facts, not as a tag on a personality.

What the score does not say

This page does not promise an exact number. Direction on this chain is negative: the documented instruments close rotation and criminalise civic and minority life. A later genuine contest, a repeal of the 2023 Act, or a CDF who is not his son would be a different fact with a different date. Robert Kyagulanyi and Muhoozi Kainerugaba remain names on this file, not minted pages.

Dispute a fact on this pageNamed here, or represent someone who is? Request a right of reply.