Few Americans know much about Uganda, but it is almost certainly America's closest military ally in Africa. For years, its army has served as a proxy force for the US War on Terror in Eastern and Central Africa. During the 1990s, the Ugandan military, with US support, fought dirty wars in Sudan, Rwanda, and Zaire in order to ensure Central Africa's estimated $24 trillion in coltan, uranium, gold, and other mineral riches remained in the West's sphere of influence. Today, more than 6,000 US-supported Ugandan troops are battling the Islamist group Al Shabaab in Somalia and thousands more serve as guards in Iraq. President Donald Trump's Arab allies are now reportedly negotiating the recruitment of thousands of Ugandans to join the ghastly quagmire in Yemen.
Three days later, Nambooze was arrested on charges of "offensive communication," in connection with the Facebook post. She paid bail and was released, but during a budget speech the next day, Museveni announced that bail for murder suspects would be scrapped. Nambooze was immediately rearrested, and for two days she lay in a bare jail cell on a wooden bench, unable to sit up or stand. She was then taken to a hospital, but on the way a police vehicle rammed into the ambulance, further damaging her spine and severely injuring her knee. While it's impossible to prove, Nambooze suspects the collision was deliberate and intended to further physically traumatize her. Doctors later determined that one of the metal screws implanted in her back had been dislodged and was pressing on a major nerve. Demonstrations broke out around the country, and she was finally released on bond and flown to India for another round of surgery on July 4.
State Department insiders have told me that if we didn't support Museveni, China would. China's interests in Africa, however, are primarily economic, not military, and war—Museveni's specialty—is generally bad for business. In any case, the United States has historically supplied far more weapons to African dictators than China has. And even if we did pull out and the Chinese propped up Museveni instead, at least our tax dollars wouldn't be funding his oppression and mayhem.
Helen C. EpsteinHelen C. Epstein teaches at Bard College and is the author of Another Fine Mess: America, Uganda and the War on Terror.