Buganda royalism and political competition in Uganda’s 2011 elections

International audienceAlthough the 2011 elections in Uganda did not result into the expected splitbetween Buganda voters and President Museveni, the electoral campaign is agood empirical entry point to understand the forms of contemporary royalistmobilisations, and the way Buganda, its nature and its fate, are conceptualised bypolitical elites today. In the constituency of Kampala where fieldwork wasconducted, Buganda was very present in the rally speeches. Political adversariessaw it as a powerful source of popular support. It thus impacted the lines againstwhich politicians competed: their strategies and the criteria against which theywere asking to be judged. In their rally speeches, electoral candidates producedconflicting, but also sometimes convergent, conceptions of what it means tobe a good leader in Buganda, for both men and women. Particularly, politicalopponents shared and projected a behavioural conception of ‘Gandaness’ thatmixes autochthony and loyalty to the king