The opposition leader in Uganda’s Parliament sees Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the New York mayoral race as inspiring but somehow too distant.
Advertisement
“It’s a big encouragement even to us here in Uganda that it’s possible,” said Joel Ssenyonyi, who represents an area of the Ugandan capital of Kampala. “But we have a long way to get there.”
There was some excitement at Makerere University in Kampala, where Mamdani’s father was a senior academic until a few years ago.
“Seeing Zohran up there, I feel like I can also make it,” said Anthony Kirabo, 22, a psychology student.
“It makes me feel good and proud of my country because it shows that Uganda can produce some good leaders,” he said, adding that he hoped it might encourage more tourists to come to the east African country.
Advertisement
Uganda, where Mamdani was born in 1991, has had the same president for nearly four decades, despite attempts by multiple opposition leaders to defeat him in elections. President Yoweri Museveni, 81, an authoritarian who is up for re-election in January, has rejected calls for his retirement, leading to fears of a volatile political transition.