Emmanuel Gyezaho
Kampala
President Museveni moved on Thursday to quell fears that he is hell bent on staying in power for life, after he said he would most certainly not be in office by 2025.
But the statement told of the ambiguity that shrouds his future plans, if any, for retirement. The NRM leader, in power for 23 years now and destined to run for office again in 2011, scoffed at critics who accuse him of plotting a life-presidency project, describing that school of thought as bad thinking.
Mr Museveni made the catchy comments following the reading of the 2009-2010 Budget on Thursday at the Kampala Serena Hotel.
The President was speaking about what he said were the foundations for building a solid economy, such as peace and security, roads and railways, electricity and piped water, before telling his audience that development of sustainable energy resources was critical to his ambition of turning Uganda into a first world country.
To achieve that goal, Mr Museveni said that he had set targets for the ministry of Energy to ensure that the country produces at least 17,000 mega watts of electricity by 2025 to fuel his development plans.
That remark, however, drew cynical comments from his audience.
That remark, however, drew cynical comments from his audience, especially from the opposition lawmakers in attendance, who loudly exclaimed: 2025?
Put out by the mockery, Mr Museveni retorted: Now when I say 2025, you may think I will still be in the government. This is the problem of some people. They cannot think of somebody planning for the country unless he is on the table leading. Some people have got bad thinking in their heads.
Put in the context of the raging debate on how long the President plans to stay in office and the succession battles that have engulfed the NRM regime, Mr Musevenis comments will leave more room for conjecture as to when he plans to finally hang his boots.
At 63, if Mr Museveni runs for office in the next general election and wins, which is now a matter of clockwork, he will have been in office for 25years. That term, a fourth straight elective term, would end in 2016, with Mr Museveni in office for an unprecedented 30 years, but aged 70. With the constitutional age limit of 75 for any candidate interested in running for the presidency, Mr Museveni would still be eligible to run for office for a fifth unprecedented term in 2016. That term would end in 2022 with the President aged 75 and ineligible to contest the presidency. But his critics are sceptical of his comments.
Kampala
President Museveni moved on Thursday to quell fears that he is hell bent on staying in power for life, after he said he would most certainly not be in office by 2025.
But the statement told of the ambiguity that shrouds his future plans, if any, for retirement. The NRM leader, in power for 23 years now and destined to run for office again in 2011, scoffed at critics who accuse him of plotting a life-presidency project, describing that school of thought as bad thinking.
Mr Museveni made the catchy comments following the reading of the 2009-2010 Budget on Thursday at the Kampala Serena Hotel.
The President was speaking about what he said were the foundations for building a solid economy, such as peace and security, roads and railways, electricity and piped water, before telling his audience that development of sustainable energy resources was critical to his ambition of turning Uganda into a first world country.
To achieve that goal, Mr Museveni said that he had set targets for the ministry of Energy to ensure that the country produces at least 17,000 mega watts of electricity by 2025 to fuel his development plans.
That remark, however, drew cynical comments from his audience.
That remark, however, drew cynical comments from his audience, especially from the opposition lawmakers in attendance, who loudly exclaimed: 2025?
Put out by the mockery, Mr Museveni retorted: Now when I say 2025, you may think I will still be in the government. This is the problem of some people. They cannot think of somebody planning for the country unless he is on the table leading. Some people have got bad thinking in their heads.
Put in the context of the raging debate on how long the President plans to stay in office and the succession battles that have engulfed the NRM regime, Mr Musevenis comments will leave more room for conjecture as to when he plans to finally hang his boots.
At 63, if Mr Museveni runs for office in the next general election and wins, which is now a matter of clockwork, he will have been in office for 25years. That term, a fourth straight elective term, would end in 2016, with Mr Museveni in office for an unprecedented 30 years, but aged 70. With the constitutional age limit of 75 for any candidate interested in running for the presidency, Mr Museveni would still be eligible to run for office for a fifth unprecedented term in 2016. That term would end in 2022 with the President aged 75 and ineligible to contest the presidency. But his critics are sceptical of his comments.
