Uganda: Power struggle fuelled by speculation that President Museveni seeks to retire

Officials and analysts say the party of Uganda’s long-serving ruler appears to have split into rival factions jostling for power in anticipation of the president’s possible exit.

The officials on Wednesday predicted an all-out power struggle that could pit the country’s prime minister against its parliements’ speaker, Ms. Rebecca Kadaga.

President Yoweri Museveni called an emergency meeting of top party officials on Tuesday after his party’s defeat last week in a parliamentary by-election widely seen as a test of his popularity a year after he won re-election.

Museveni, a former fighter who captured power by force in 1986, has not said if he will run again when his current term expires in 2016, although some party officials believe he is considering retirement in the face of growing opposition to his rule.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.