Video of Uganda's Yoweri Museveni saying 2026 presidential bid will be his last is doctored

Published on September 19, 2025 at 12:08
4 min read
By Peris GACHAHI, AFP Kenya

As Uganda gears up for the January 2026 polls, President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, is seeking to extend his nearly 40-year rule. A video recently shared on social media claims to show Museveni declaring that the 2026 race will be his last. However, the video is digitally manipulated. The original footage, from an August 2025 joint press conference with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in Cairo, was altered to lip-synch Museveni’s address with synthetic audio.

“Uganda president Yoweri museveni say this is the last time he is vying for presidency in uganda, urges Ugandans to come in large numbers and vote for him for the last time (sic),” reads the caption on a TikTok post published on September 16, 2025.

Screenshot of the altered post, taken on September 17, 2025

The clip, shared more than 7,000 times, shows Museveni giving an address from behind a lectern with an Egyptian presidential seal.

“This is the last time I'm vying for president in Uganda. I will never vie again after 2026,” Museveni appears to say. “So, I urge all Ugandans to come out in large numbers and vote for me for the very last time. I have few projects that I want to finish.”

The clip was also shared elsewhere on Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.

Some Kenyan media outlets also repeated the claim.

Museveni's presidency

Museveni seized power in 1986 after leading a five-year guerrilla war with his National Resistance Army (NRA), ousting General Tito Okello’s military regime (archived here).

Once hailed as a reformist, the 81-year-old has since entrenched himself in power by scrapping the two five-year term limits in 2005 and removing the presidential 75-year age cap in 2017 (archived here and here).

Over the years, opposition figures such as Kizza Besigye and Robert Kyagulanyi (known as Bobi Wine) have unsuccessfully challenged Museveni, accusing him of election rigging and repressing dissent (archived here and here).

In June 2025, the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) endorsed Museveni as its flagbearer for the 2026 polls, in what would be a seventh term extending his nearly 40-year rule (archived here).

However, the video purportedly showing Museveni saying 2026 will be his last presidential bid is altered.

Doctored clip

AFP Fact Check conducted reverse image searches on keyframes from the clip and found the original footage published on the official YouTube channel of the Egyptian presidency on August 12, 2025 (archived here).

“President El-Sisi and the President of Uganda Hold Joint Press Conference,” reads the video’s title.

The Ugandan leader was on a three-day state visit at the invitation of his Egyptian counterpart.

In both videos, Museveni can be seen standing behind the same lectern, wearing a white shirt with the Ugandan flag positioned beside him against the same backdrop.

Screenshots taken on September 17, 2025, comparing the altered post (left) and the original address published on the Egyptian presidency’s channel

At no point in the original address did Museveni talk about leaving power or his 2026 presidential bid.

Instead, he discussed the future of the Nile Basin countries (nations through which the River Nile flows), arguing that debates should move beyond “historical rights” toward meeting the practical needs of all countries through “prosperity for all, electricity for all, irrigation for all, and clean drinking water for all”.

He also emphasised regional economic cooperation, warning African countries against “focusing on trading only with Europe”. He praised Egypt’s support to Uganda, including foot-and-mouth disease vaccine supplies, and welcomed plans for a vaccine factory in Uganda.

Although the TikTok clip’s audio mimics Museveni’s voice, closer observation of the footage reveals unnatural lip movements, and slightly robotic tones and odd pacing, common signs of AI-generated lip-sync manipulation, also known as deepfakes.

AFP Fact Check analysed the audio using InVID-WeVerify's audio detection tool and the results suggested strong evidence of voice cloning.

Screenshot of voice cloning detection results from InVID-WeVerify

We found no credible reports to support claims of Museveni declaring 2026 as his last run for presidency.

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