I was trying to run for the presidency in Uganda – yet men still found the audacity to call me ‘baby, sweetheart, darling’ | Yvonne Mpambara

<p>I was bruised by my experience of being kept out of an exclusively male political club – now my focus is on getting women into power in Africa</p><p>It’s six weeks since the electoral commission of <a href="https://www.ecofinagency.com/news/2509-49000-uganda-clears-eight-candidates-for-2026-presidential-election">Uganda announced the eight candidates</a> for the country’s 2026 presidential election. The fact that they are all men is an outrage – and entirely unsurprising.</p><p>Of the <a href="https://www.newvision.co.ug/category/politics/ugandan-presidential-candidates-harmonise-cam-NV_219423">221 people</a> who expressed an interest in running for president, 15 were women; and of those, only three of us gained enough voter support to be considered for nomination.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/nov/05/in-uganda-men-called-me-baby-sweetheart-darling-i-was-trying-to-run-for-the-presidency">Continue reading...</a>