Museveni praised by social media users for 'missing' Queen's funeral

Museveni was a no-show at the Queen's funeral Pulse

The internet was awash with images of African leaders at the Queen’s funeral being herded onto a bus while smilingly aglow as a sideshow to an event in which Western leaders basked in less humiliating treatment.

Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, the Zimbabwean president, was reduced to being a driver Pulse

The online images reveal Kenya’s newly elected president William Ruto sharing the back seats with his wife, while Tanzania’s president Samia Suluhu is also seen in what many considered a meme-worthy pose.

Uganda was represented by Foreign Affairs Minister Jeje Odongo who enjoyed a selfie in another bus and was promptly parodied online.

African leaders were roundly lampooned online Pulse

Another online video clip revealed American President Joe Biden arriving in his official car, the so-called “Beast, in a study of contrasts with the African leaders’ presumably craven appearance.

Biden was treated like the belle of the ball while African leaders seemed to be gate crashers at an event which showed up a disparity of esteem between Africa and the West.

Museveni, the no-show

Museveni’s absence in this context was heralded by social media users who saw his assumed defiance as the epitome of African sovereignty, Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari also did not attend the funeral.

The criticism was brutal Pulse

Social media commenters claim Museveni was foresighted, foreseeing the belittlement of African leaders at the event as inevitable and thus choosing to stay away.

This is not the first time Museveni has refused to play ball according to what western powers demand. In September 2015, in New York city, he decided to take a walk from the United Nations quarters to the Ugandan Mission located a few kilometers away, contrary to laid down protocol.