Expect no surprises from Obama

First term demand. So far what America has needed are strong men who, like the Ugandan President, tend to be the primary institution of state. Now, with a second term under his belt, it’s unlikely that there will be any surprises in Obama’s African engagement and none is really expected.

Mr Oryem, like others before him, considers an invitation to the White House for his President a major coup in relations with America. Away from appearances, Uganda, enjoys a “healthy” relationship with Washington largely constructed around traditional American approach of this part of the world.

“America seeks a hegemon with which to project its power and interests,” this writer was once told by a leading academic at George Town University. Thus Uganda’s leaders since 1986 have offered America a natural partnership as a stabilising force in the region and as an economic model espousing a neo-liberal tradition.

When Mr Museveni came to power, Mr Obama was just a fresh graduate from Columbia University. His time in power would see an expansion of the relationship between the US and Uganda through the Clinton and Bush years. In his introduction to the new foreign policy, President Obama references himself on that maiden speech delivered in Ghana; that what Africa needed is not strong men but strong institutions. However, to this American duplicity is rather well known and generally expected to comprise the reality of foreign relations.

So far, what America has needed are strong men who, like the Ugandan President, tend to be the primary institution of state. Now, with a second term under his belt, its unlikely that there will be any surprises in Obama’s African engagement and none is really expected.