Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni seeks seventh term after four decades in power

When Yoweri Museveni seized power in Uganda in 1986, he said, "The problem of Africa in general and Uganda in particular is not the people but leaders who want to overstay in power."

The 81-year-old president and former rebel is seeking a seventh term in office on Thursday after nearly four decades leading the East African nation, the vast majority of whose citizens have never known any other leader.

Museveni came to power on a wave of optimism after leading insurgencies against autocratic governments. That goodwill was soon squandered amid allegations of graft and authoritarianism.

"Corruption has been central to his rule from the beginning," Kristof Titeca, a professor at the University of Antwerp, told Reuters.

Museveni has acknowledged that some government officials have engaged in corrupt practices, but says all those who have been caught have been prosecuted.

The canny political strategist has also cultivated foreign allies by embracing the security priorities of Western powers, deploying peacekeepers to hotspots such as Somalia and South Sudan and welcoming huge numbers of refugees to Uganda. In his own country, his record has been mixed.