Uganda limped into the January 15 polls after a subdued campaign, with politicians openly questioning how the race might have unfolded had veteran opposition leader Kizza Besigye not been behind bars.
Besigye’s absence deprived the opposition of the relentless charisma of a figure who burst onto the scene in 2001 and has since shaped Uganda’s often bitter, militarised elections that the incumbent, President Yoweri Museveni, has consistently won in disputed contests.
