A plaster on someone’s finger is usually hardly worthy of notice, never mind the source of an entire nation’s attention. Yet the recent appearance of a band-aid on Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s right index finger has set off a furious round of concern, speculation, and posturing. Is it the symptom of some sort of infection? The President has been using his left hand to shake hands when greeting people and has even been eating with his left hand, which particularly roused the ire and worries of Members of Parliament. It is hard to determine whether the MP’s are so concerned because of political opportunism or whether they fear it if something really is wrong with Museveni political instability will follow, a very real fear given Uganda’s history.
