EDRINE BENESA: Imperialism in a New Suit: Why Uganda Rejected EU Summons

2026-02-23 - 14:08

The spectacle of summoning Uganda to the grand European stage, as though Kampala were a wayward schoolboy called to the headmaster’s office, is itself a comedy of errors worth retelling. One imagines the EU summit hall as a vast courtroom of moral lectures, where nations are paraded in front of stern-faced bureaucrats who wield reports and resolutions like rulers ready to smack knuckles. Uganda, however, has chosen not to play the role of the obedient pupil. Instead, it has walked out of the classroom, slammed the door, and declared that sovereignty is not a borrowed pencil to be returned at the teacher’s whim. Sovereignty is the ink in which a nation writes its own destiny, and no amount of European finger-wagging can erase that script. The boycott of the EU summit is not merely a diplomatic maneuver; it is a satirical performance in itself. Picture the EU, puffed up with self-importance, waiting for Uganda to arrive, only to find the chairs empty. The silence in the room is louder than any speech Uganda could have delivered. It is the silence of defiance, the silence of a nation refusing to be lectured by those who still carry the faint aroma of colonial nostalgia. The EU may issue statements, pass resolutions, and draft reports, but these documents flutter in the wind like paper kites, impressive in design but powerless against the storm of Ugandan independence. The irony deepens when one considers the source of the accusations that triggered this melodrama. A politician who styles himself as the champion of democracy, yet whose campaigns often resembled carnivals of chaos, now seeks foreign validation for his grievances. Instead of rallying his people with constructive solutions, he rallies foreign powers with tales of electoral injustice. It is as if the local theater was not grand enough for his performance, so he sought a bigger stage in Brussels. But what does it mean when a leader-in-waiting prefers foreign applause to local dialogue? Is this not the very essence of promoting imperialism, dressed up as activism? To cry foul at home and then sprint abroad to seek referees is to admit that one’s own people are not the true audience. It is to outsource legitimacy, as though sovereignty were a commodity to be traded in European markets. Uganda’s refusal to attend the summit is therefore a satire on the EU itself. The Union, with all its committees and councils, is revealed as toothless when confronted with a nation that simply says “no.” What can the EU do? Send another letter? Draft another resolution? Threaten sanctions that will be shrugged off like mosquito bites? The EU’s power lies in its ability to convene, to talk, to deliberate endlessly. But when the subject of deliberation refuses to show up, the entire machinery grinds to a halt. Uganda has exposed the EU’s impotence by the simplest of acts: absence. Sometimes the loudest protest is not a speech but an empty chair. And let us not forget the theatrics of incitement that colored the campaigns. Calls to burn down the country, to reduce Uganda to ashes in the name of change, were not the rhetoric of a statesman but the pyrotechnics of a firebrand. To incite destruction while claiming to build democracy is the ultimate contradiction, a satire of leadership itself. One cannot light matches in the marketplace and then complain when the fire brigade arrives. Yet these very acts are now repackaged as evidence of victimhood, presented to foreign audiences who may not grasp the full absurdity of the situation. The satire writes itself: a man who rallies his supporters to chaos now rallies foreign powers to order, as though the two were interchangeable. Uganda’s boycott is also a reminder that sovereignty is not negotiable. It is not a gift from Brussels, nor a certificate to be renewed annually at European summits. Sovereignty is the stubborn refusal to be summoned, the insistence that national destiny is written in Kampala, not in Strasbourg. The EU may imagine itself as the guardian of democracy, but Uganda has chosen to guard its own independence. And in doing so, it has turned the EU’s summons into a farce, a play in which the protagonist refuses to appear, leaving the audience bewildered and the stage empty. The satire extends further when one considers the EU’s own internal contradictions. Here is a union grappling with its own crises—Brexit, economic stagnation, rising nationalism—yet it presumes to lecture Uganda on governance. It is like a doctor with a persistent cough prescribing medicine to a patient. The EU’s moral authority is undermined by its own ailments, yet it continues to summon others as though its house were in perfect order. Uganda’s boycott is therefore not just a defense of sovereignty but a mirror held up to Europe, reflecting its own absurdities back at it. And what of the politician who seeks foreign solutions? His choice to bypass local dialogue in favor of international intervention is itself a satire on leadership. A leader who cannot resolve disputes at home but seeks validation abroad is not leading but outsourcing. It is the politics of dependency, the politics of imperialism disguised as activism. To present oneself as a better leader while relying on foreign powers is to admit that one’s leadership is incomplete, dependent, and ultimately compromised. The satire is cruel but clear: the self-proclaimed champion of democracy becomes the courier of imperialism, delivering Uganda’s internal disputes to foreign capitals for adjudication. Uganda’s boycott, then, is not just a diplomatic act but a satirical masterpiece. It exposes the EU’s toothlessness, mocks the theatrics of incitement, and ridicules the outsourcing of legitimacy. It is a reminder that sovereignty is not negotiable, that independence is not a commodity, and that foreign applause is no substitute for local dialogue. The empty chair at the EU summit is more powerful than any speech, more eloquent than any resolution. It is the chair of defiance, the chair of sovereignty, the chair that mocks the entire spectacle of European moral lectures. In the end, the satire is complete. The EU summons Uganda, Uganda refuses, the politician seeks foreign validation, and sovereignty stands firm. The play is performed, the audience is bewildered, and the protagonist walks offstage with dignity intact. Uganda has turned the EU’s theater into a comedy, a farce, a satire of power itself. In doing so, it has reminded the world that sovereignty is not a borrowed pencil but the ink of destiny, indelible and unyielding. The writer is a deputy Resident City Commissioner for Nakawa Division