Uganda President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni shared with us a memory of having been taught math by a Peace Corps volunteer back in the sixties
The Pearl of Africa Shines Again:
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni's Uganda
After a 20 year period of civil war in Uganda, marked by the regimes of Idi Amin and Milton Obote and the deaths of a million citizens, peace and prosperity have returned to the Pearl of Africa. This paper is a study of the man who engineered this remarkable turnaround, President Yoweri Museveni, and examines his possible motives for the actions he has taken toward establishing an unprecedented 12 years of relative peace and equally unprecedented economic growth.
Museveni commonly addresses the Ugandan public in basic clothing. He is not one for pomp and circumstance. I had the honor of meeting him while working in Uganda. He was extremely personable and was willing and eager to answer any questions about Uganda, the system of government, the languages and ethnic diversity and anything else we might wonder about. He shared with us a memory of having been taught math by a Peace Corps volunteer back in the sixties. Before we left, he stood for a photograph with the group of Peace Corps volunteers and staff. And this whole event took place in a tented outdoor reception area as we took tea and scones. He was very casual, even slouching back in his chair. Overall, he demonstrated his deep interest in building a better Uganda, not with an iron fist but through practical and easily understood measures designed to improve the lives of Uganda's citizens.
