Uganda: Covid free Museveni has resumed presidential duties

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, 78, announced on Monday that he had resumed the normal course of his duties, after indicating in early June that he had tested positive for Covid-19.

“With good health confirmed, I am now able to resume physical meetings, starting with the government this afternoon,” he announced on Twitter.

The head of state, who has ruled the East African country with an iron fist since 1986, had announced on 8 June that he had tested positive for Covid-19, citing “mild symptoms”. “I have delegated my work for today and tomorrow to Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja,” he said.

Last week, the Ugandan President did not take part in the delegation of several African heads of state who travelled to Ukraine and Russia to try to put an end to the conflict. 

Mr. Museveni did, however, address parliament from a distance during the presentation of the budget. 

On Sunday, Mr. Museveni announced that he had tested negative for HIV.

Once hailed as a reformer, Yoweri Museveni took the reins of Uganda in 1986, helping to put an end to the authoritarian regimes of Idi Amin Dada and Milton Obote.

But the former rebel leader has since cracked down on dissent and changed the constitution to keep himself in power.

In Uganda, the repression of civil society, lawyers and activists has increased in recent years, according to many human rights organisations.

According to the Ministry of Health, Uganda has officially recorded 170,775 cases of coronavirus infection and 3,632 deaths since the start of the pandemic in 2020.