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Political Parties

Uganda's political parties emerged in response to impending independence rather than as a means of winning it. In part the result of its fairly smooth transition to independence, the near absence of nationalism among Uganda's diverse ethnic groups led to a series of political compromises. The first was a government made up of coalitions of local and regional interest groups loosely organized into political parties.

At independence in October 1962, ethnic and regional rivalries were crystallized in several newly formed political parties and in the federal system that gave substantial autonomy to the four large kingdoms in the south, plus the highly centralized society of Busoga.

After years of civil war, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and the National Resistance Army (NRA) marched on Kampala, and Museveni formally claimed the presidency on January 29, 1986. With President Museveni’s National Resistance Movement (NRM) accession to power, the very existence of the old political parties, particularly the DP and the UPC, became an issue. The old parties were permitted to maintain their headquarters and to issue statements but could not hold rallies or campaign on behalf of candidatesThe Ten-Point Program blamed much of Uganda's previous difficulties on the excessive reliance of the leaders of the old parties upon manipulation of ethnic and religious loyalties for their own benefit.

The alternative, though not spelled out, would be politics without parties. Even though the results were rigged, the 1980 general elections had demonstrated that both the DP and the UPC retained a mass following despite their repression by the Amin dictatorship and that the UPM, the predecessor party of many important NRM leaders, did not attract many voters. When the NRM extended its prohibition on parties to prevent them from campaigning and from nominating candidates for new members of the NRC in the elections of February 1989, the issue became considerably more threatening to the officials of the old parties.

The Ugandan parliament functioned without political parties, so party discipline does not exist. MPs were not elected not for their political affiliation with a specific party or platform, but for their own character often linked to how they are able to serve their constituency or district.

Both the Presidential Elections Act and the Parliamentary Elections Act prohibit candidates from using government or public resources for the purpose of campaigning for election. Multiparty democracy demands that there be a clear division between party and public finances and equal access to the media. It also demands that legislation governing the conduct of political parties be enforced impartially.

On 28 July 2005, Uganda’s “citizens voted in a national referendum to adopt a multi-party system of government, which also lifted the two-term presidential limit. Political party activities had been banned in 1986 following the introduction of a "no-party" system (known as "The Movement") by President Yoweri Museveni - a former guerrilla leader who come to power as head of the National Resistance Army earlier the same year.

There were approximately 40 registered parties. The ruling NRM party operated without restriction, regularly holding rallies and conducting political activities. Authorities occasionally restricted the activities of the main opposition parties by refusing them permission to hold public demonstrations and preventing opposition leaders from appearing on local radio stations.

At the 2006 elections, the principal opposition to President Museveni’s National Resistance Movement (NRM) came from the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), lead by Dr. Kizza Besigye. In November 2005 Dr. Besigye was charged with treason, terrorism and rape, although a February 2006 court decision to adjourn trial proceedings enabled him to participate in the elections.” During the election campaign, two FDC supporters were reportedly killed by armed men on 15 February. On 25 February 2006, the Electoral Commission announced that President Museveni had been re-elected with 59 per cent of the vote, while his main rival, Dr. Besigye, obtained 37 per cent. Dr. Besigye challenged the election results, claiming irregularities and electoral fraud. On 6 April 2006, the Supreme Court dismissed the petition, judging that the irregularities had not substantially affected the election results.

The February 2011 parliamentary and presidential elections were the second multi-party elections to be held in Uganda since 1986. In 2011, 1,270 candidates were vying for the directly elected seats, while 443 were running for the special seats reserved for women. 18 candidates, including five incumbent MPs, were disqualified for failing to submit proper supporting documents.

The 2011 elections were held against a backdrop of protests in several African and Arab countries, which saw the removal of long-serving presidents in Tunisia and Egypt in January and February respectively. President Museveni - who has been in power since 1986 and was seeking a fourth consecutive term in 2011 - stated emphatically there would be no Egypt-like revolution in Uganda.

President Museveni's National Resistance Movement (NRM) presented a manifesto entitled "Prosperity for all, better service delivery and job creation", pledging to transform Uganda from "a third world country to a modern one". President Museveni ran on the government's record, citing an average growth rate of 5 per cent since 2004 and progress in the fight against the Lord's Resistance Army's rebellion. He promised to develop the petroleum industry, and ensure environmental management and sustainable development. In February, he called for the creation of a political federation of the East African Community by 2012, underscoring that such a federation would be "the insurance policy of Africa's future".

In July 2008, Uganda's five main opposition parties - the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), the Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC), the Conservative Party (CP) and the Justice Forum (JEEMA)the FDC, the CP, the JEEMA and the UPC formed the Inter-Party Cooperation (IPC). Uganda's other main opposition party, the Democratic Party (DP), joined later. In 2011 the IPC campaigned under the slogan "Change is coming". It endorsed Mr. Besigye's candidature in the presidential polls, although the parties in the coalition fielded parliamentary candidates separately. In January, Mr. Besigye signed a commitment to implement the Citizens' Manifesto if he was elected President. The manifesto had been launched by the Uganda Governance Monitoring Platform (UGMP), a grouping of 17 non-governmental organizations, amidst calls for constitutional review, reinstitution of presidential term limits and establishment of a credible national electoral commission (EC).

The NRM took a total of 250 seats: 165 of the 237 directly elected seats and 85 of the 112 seats reserved for women. The FDC came in a distant second, winning 23 directly elected seats and 11 of the seats reserved for women. The DP and the UPC took 12 and 10 seats respectively. The CP and the JEEMA won one seat each. The remainder went to 42 independent candidates. Mr. Besigye called the 2011 elections "fundamentally flawed", criticizing the President's control of the electoral commission and the non-issuance of new identification cards which, in his view, was proof that the President would rig the vote.

Police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse rallies of opposition leaders. For example, on 20 June 2013, police shot and killed one person and injured several others while trying to block a political rally organized by Kampala mayor Lukwago in an effort to rally support against the government’s campaign to remove him from office. On 25 November 2013, Kampala City Council Authority councilors impeached Lukwago in a 29-3 vote following an internal tribunal report that charged him with incompetence, abuse of office, and misconduct. Lukwago’s lawyers claimed that a lower court issued an injunction stopping the proceedings, which the government rejected. On November 28, the High Court upheld the November 25 injunction. The case was pending at the end of 2013.

Police arrested several opposition leaders during the year 2013. For example, on30 July 2013, police in Kampala arrested eight women activists, including FDC’s women’s league leader Ingrid Turinawe, as they delivered a petition to the National Assembly against new taxes on water and kerosene. Police charged that the women sought to disrupt a National Assembly session and had no permission to present their petition during a sitting. Police released the women without charge after several hours.

In elections on 18 February 2016 President Yoweri Museveni's National Resistance Movement (NRM) retained a two-thirds majority in the enlarged 447-member Parliament (up from 375 (see note). The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) led by Mr. Kizza Besigye came a distant second with 36 seats. The Democratic Alliance (TDA), led by former Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi, took 19 seats. Museveni was re-elected President for a fifth term. Mr. Besigye (FDC), who came second, rejected the election results and called for a protest march. The Supreme Court rejected a petition by Mr. Mbabazi challenging President Museveni's victory, citing voter bribery and arrests.

During the election campaign, the major parties promised to provide better infrastructure, more jobs and affordable health care and to fight corruption. Observers from the European Union praised the peaceful voting but drew attention to a "lack of transparency and independence of the Electoral Commission" and "intimidation and harassment of opposition parties by security agencies".

The statutory number of directly elected members increased from 238 to 300, and that of women representatives from 112 to 122, due to an increase in the number of constituencies, approved by parliament in August 2015. However, the 2016 elections were held only for the 290 directly elected seats and 112 women representative seats, pending the creation of new districts. In addition, the President of the Republic may appoint as many ex officio members as he/she wishes, although the President has traditionally appointed 11 members to Parliament. The number of ex officio members (ministers who do not have voting rights), and thus the statutory number of members, may vary during the course of the legislature.