“In death Nyerere’s halo has continued to grow, and there have been no damaging revelations about him … His Chama Cha Mapinduzi party remains on the same course he set for it: the smooth transition of power within the ruling party, for as long as possible, so that even when John Magufuli died unexpectedly in office, his deputy Samia Suluhu was inaugurated without incident in 2021 as Tanzania’s first female president. Thus, in a narrow political sense, Nyerere has had enough followers to cement his legacy at home. What’s in doubt is his relevance for Africans elsewhere, among leaders like Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni who may praise Nyerere while having little use for Nyerereism.”

“Inevitably, as was the case under [Idi] Amin and even Milton Obote, Ugandans are increasingly concerned by what they consider a slide toward full-blown military authoritarianism, by a palpable fear of what happens next. The scale of abuses has intensified with the rise of Bobi Wine. Some of his supporters have been picked from their homes at night by security agents who shove their victims into vans that Ugandans have described, terrifyingly, as “drones,” apparently because of the speed with which they are driven away from crime scenes. Some of those released from detention tell harrowing stories: fingernails torn out, bodies burned with hot metal, and other abuses too violent to mention here … [T]hese cruel acts of torture reveal current truths about the Museveni regime, show the government as it is. These are the political remains of the NRM, as raw and bitter as a poisonous plant.”

“As the leader of an anti-corruption watchdog in Uganda, I am no longer surprised by what I discover in the course of my work. Corruption is everywhere, whether it is powered by need or by greed. The traffic officer who uses his uniform to extract some money from errant motorists instead of issuing tickets. The motorists who know that they will be required to pay a policeman for offenses they are yet to commit, and thus keep pocket change nearby, to be slipped into the conniving officer’s hand without being prompted.”