“Worse Than Amin”: Eminent Scholar Mamdani Delivers Searing Indictment of Museveni’s Rule in New Book
In a startling new work, celebrated academic Mahmood Mamdani, who once condemned Idi Amin, now argues that President Yoweri Museveni’s long tenure has been more damaging to Uganda.
KAMPALA – In what is set to be one of the most controversial political assessments of the year, renowned Ugandan scholar Professor Mahmood Mamdani has declared President Yoweri Museveni’s nearly four-decade rule worse than the brutal dictatorship of Idi Amin.
The damning conclusion is the centerpiece of Mamdani’s new book, Slow Poison: Idi Amin, Yoweri Museveni, and the Making of the Ugandan State. The work dismantles the long-held narrative of Museveni as a revolutionary liberator who brought stability, arguing instead that his rule has “corroded the moral fabric of the nation.”
The claim is particularly potent given the author’s history. As a Ugandan of Indian descent, Mamdani was among the tens of thousands expelled from the country by Amin in 1972 and has been a noted critic of the former dictator. His shift in perspective carries significant weight, written with the authority of a scholar who has dedicated his career to studying African politics.
The book portrays Museveni not as a force for order after chaos, but as a leader whose extended power has inflicted a deeper, more systemic decline on Uganda. The metaphor of “slow poison” suggests a gradual, insidious deterioration of the state under his tenure.
This scholarly indictment arrives as the country looks toward the 2026 general elections, where Museveni, now one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, is expected to run again. The book is likely to fuel intense debate and provide a robust intellectual framework for critics who argue that the promise of the 1986 liberation has been betrayed.
Mamdani’s analysis challenges the foundational legacy of the Museveni presidency, potentially reshaping the historical and political discourse surrounding his rule as Uganda stands at a political crossroads.
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