Former Minister of Ethics and Integrity Miria Matembe has launched a fresh and scathing attack on President Yoweri Museveni and his family, declaring that Uganda does not belong to them and warning against what she described as the growing personalisation of the state.
“I want to tell you, President Museveni and your family, Uganda is not yours. Uganda is not your personal property. Uganda belongs to Ugandans. Uganda is ours,” Matembe said.
“We shall leave, and it will stay. We come and go, we come and go. But taking Uganda as your own personal property and taking everybody who believes in NRM as the only Ugandan is utter and total nonsense.”
Matembe, a prominent lawyer and long-time democracy advocate, made the remarks in public commentary and interviews circulated widely in mid-to-late January, shortly after Uganda’s presidential election on January 15, 2026, in which Museveni secured a seventh term in office.
Her criticism was directed not only at the President, but also at First Lady Janet Museveni and their son, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, amid growing debate over succession politics and the role of the First Family in national affairs.
A former ally of Museveni, Matembe served as Minister of Ethics and Integrity from 1998 to 2003 before falling out with the President during debates over the removal of presidential term limits. Since then, she has remained one of his most consistent and outspoken critics.
In her latest remarks, Matembe warned against the language used by state actors to describe political opponents, saying it fuels fear and division.
“Dehumanising fellow Ugandans by calling them terrorists or traitors poisons our national discourse,” she said, adding that such rhetoric makes it “feel like the government is at war with its own people.”
While stressing that she harbours no personal ill will against Museveni, Matembe insisted that leadership must be temporary, not inherited or treated as indispensable.
“Museveni is like a brother whom I want to live long, but he must leave power,” she said, predicting that Ugandans would one day celebrate his departure in the same way they did after the fall of former leaders Idi Amin and Milton Obote. “People will then realise how they were misled into believing that one person is irreplaceable.”
Matembe also dismissed claims that she had been “bought” or softened by the ruling establishment, and said she would not be silenced despite pressure and intimidation.
“I will not stop talking. I refuse to shut up,” she said, warning that critics increasingly fear becoming “the next target for arrest.”
Her comments echo arguments she has made for years in her writings and public engagements, including in her book The Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Betrayed, where she accuses Museveni of entrenching power, undermining democratic institutions and tolerating corruption.
Despite backlash from some ruling party supporters, Matembe maintains that her position is rooted in patriotism rather than hostility.
“Uganda does not belong to one family or one party,” she has repeatedly emphasised. “It belongs to all of us.”
