Paper short abstract:

This study investigates the politics of Uganda's Covid-19 response. It explores the major players within the Covid-19 policy domain particularly those with a strong bearing on Uganda's capital Kampala, their motivations, and the implications of their (in)actions on the response.

Paper long abstract:

This study investigates the politics of Uganda's Covid-19 response. It explores the major players within the Covid-19 policy domain particularly those with a strong bearing on the country's capital Kampala, their motivations, and the implications of their (in)actions on the response. The study employed a qualitative research approach involving analysis of data from well-placed key informants and secondary evidence collected from presidential speeches and Ministry of Health briefs on Covid-19 as well as research and media reports among others. Borrowing from a rich history of managing dangerous epidemic outbreaks and informed by strong scientific advisory structures, pundits claimed that Uganda convened an effective Covid response apparatus that kept both infections and deaths among the lowest in the world. Yet, a more nuanced interpretation of the situation in Uganda reveals that the seemingly centralised response effort was in fact quite ad hoc characterized by political instrumentalization, confusion, and rivalry among actors at central and city levels. Current and former military officers were intimately involved in the pandemic response, which seems to have gone hand in hand with an increased concentration of power and militarisation of the state apparatus. Overall, the pandemic served as a pretext to stifle political opposition in Kampala and help President Museveni secure his re-election bid in 2021.