KAMPALA (Reuters) - Position: President
Incumbent: Yoweri Museveni
Date of Birth: 1944
Term: From May 24, 2011 for five years
Key Facts:
Rebel-turned-statesman Museveni is one of Africa's longest serving leaders, securing the presidency in 1986 after leading troops through the bush to oust Milton Obote and declaring that his presidency was "not a mere change of guard" from one strongman to another but heralded a new era of democracy.
Riding a wave of popularity, he initially backed statist policies and boasted personal austerity, mocking the extravagance of past leaders. He soon adopted a more liberal approach, signing up to the International Monetary Fund's structural adjustment programs in the early 1990s and securing foreign investment.
Ugandans, who had endured years of turmoil and the arbitary rule of Idi Amin, began enjoying sturdy economic growth and political order for the first time since independence in 1962. Museveni won praise from the then U.S. President Bill Clinton, who called him one of a "new breed of African leaders".
But Western politicians have shown growing unease at his ever-extending time in office. Museveni has won every vote since the first election under his presidency in 1996. Opponents have increasingly said votes are rigged, a charge he denies.
In 2005, parliament dominated by his supporters changed the constitution to allow a multi-party democracy, ending the monopoly of his National Resistance Movement. At the same time, it removed the two-term presidential limit, a move critics said was aimed at letting him stay in power for life.
He has kept close ties with the United States, Britain and other Western powers in part because Uganda has been a valuable ally in a volatile region, sending troops to hotspots such as Somalia that Western capitals want to avoid. But he drew reprimands from Western donors when he ratified a law early in 2014 to toughen sentences against gays. The law was later overturned.
Museveni has said he does not know his exact birth date because his parents were illiterate but has estimated he was born in 1944 based on events his parents said happened at the time.
(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Louise Ireland)