Why Jessica Alupo could be Uganda’s next president

“The security forces will not allow it [civilian rule]. The next leader will be a soldier or policeman,” said Gen. Kainerugaba recently. And with that tweet, he confirmed our worst fears about Uganda being a militocracy. Still, he also gave us a glimpse of who might be Uganda’s next leader.

Maj. (Rtd) Jessica Alupo, is the ninth and current Vice President of Uganda since June 2021. She is a Ugandan politician, educator, and former military officer. She previously served in the cabinet of Uganda as Minister of Education between 2011 and 2016. She is also an elected member of parliament as Katakwi District’s women’s representative.

Yet it is not the laurels of her undoubted service that will see her ascend the presidential throne, it is her soft skills. Major Alupo is self-effacing to a degree that she leaves a void by her very presence!

It is such humility that is dubbed as discipline amongst the armed forces. This shows you are an outstanding and upstanding soldier. Add that to her personable manners, she always smiles demurely and never raises her voice, and you have the makings of a president.

She will not be a threat to the country’s incipient military-industrial complex because she does not have the forceful personality of a transformative leader nor will she be willing to terminate the activities of an institution that gave her a career and the ranks to show for it.

Where she is from will also tell in the sweepstakes of selecting a new Ugandan leader.

Katakwi District was created in 1997. It was formerly part of Soroti District. The district is located in the Teso subregion, home to an estimated 2.5 million people of Iteso and Kumam ethnicities, according to the recent national census.

In a population which is reportedly over 50 million people, her tribe from this subregion is not big enough to threaten the more populous tribes that makeup Uganda’s ruling elite.

Plus, to point out the obvious, under Uganda’s so-called Fourth Republic, the Constitution of Uganda states that “the president is the executive head of state.”

The president is elected by popular vote for a five-year term. In the event of a vacancy, the vice president serves as acting president under a dormant commission.”

True, the armed forces may overthrow this constitution. It has happened before in Uganda. But still, Major Alupo, conscripted by tradition into the reserve forces, will be part of such an unconstitutional maneuver.