Uganda - Referendum 2005
A referendum on restoring multi-party politics was held in Uganda on 28 July 2005. A huge majority of Uganda's voters - 92.5% - supports restoring multi-party politics. A Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) issued a report proposing comprehensive constitutional change in December 2003. The government, however, took issue with many CRC recommendations and made counter-proposals in September 2004.
Uganda’s post-colonial political history contains a limited record of democratic governance. The current NRM political leadership has been in power for the past 25 years. Two referenda in 2000 and 2005 were instrumental in attempts to bring change in the country’s governance. While the 2000 referendum affirmed the desirability of an all-embracing Movement system, the referendum in 2005 heralded a return to multi-party political competition. This was, however, undermined by a counter proposal to amend the constitution to remove the two five-year terms of the President, which accorded the incumbent president eligibility to stand for as many terms as he wishes.
Participation in the referendum, however, was disappointingly low. This result was due, in part, to confusion over the referendum question and mixed messages from Government leaders who favored passage without embracing a multiparty system.
Uganda’s return to multiparty politics following a 2005 referendum created new opportunities for political participation and competition. However, 19 years of de facto, one-party rule formed significant obstacles to peaceful political competition and the establishment of effective, representative political institutions. Political parties are grappling with the challenge of creating institutional identities while balancing individual ambitions, constituency representation and responsiveness and the need for party cohesion. Citizens’ desire to engage the civic, political and governmental institutions that claim to represent them is declining. Political intimidation and memories of a violent political past have left many citizens and civil society organizations (CSOs) wary of advocacy and watchdog actions, as well as interaction with political parties. Equally important, government-sponsored grants given to CSOs and community-based organizations (CBOs) to provide community services limit the desire of these organizations to fulfill their advocacy and oversight roles.
The United States strongly supported Ugandans’ decision to adopt a multiparty political system and helped strengthen political parties during the transition. The United States funded programs to enhance voter participation, political pluralism, and the effective administration of Uganda’s presidential and parliamentary elections. A U.S. program trained political parties to develop organizational structures, party constitutions, and campaign platforms. U.S. funds also sponsored national polls to measure Ugandan public opinion on different political issues and candidates. Workshops instructed political parties to use the polling data to focus outreach efforts and to improve party messages.
During the same period, parliament removed presidential term limits under pressure from the executive. President Yoweri Museveni announced he would seek to extend his rule to 25 years by running for re-election in February 2006. Shortly after the President’s announcement, government authorities jailed Museveni’s principal challenger for the presidency, Kizza Besigye, on charges of rape, treason, terrorism, and firearms offenses. The arrest prompted two days of unrest in Kampala, which left at least one person dead. The Government also announced severe restrictions on public assembly and public expression in relation to the Besigye case. A civilian court ordered Besigye’s release from military detention on January 2, 2006, and on January 31, 2006 the Ugandan Constitutional Court ruled that a military court did not have jurisdiction to try Besigye on terrorism and firearms offenses.
Museveni was reelected in peaceful elections; however, Besigye has vowed to challenge the results in court. In northern Uganda, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) killed hundreds of civilians and perpetrated horrific crimes against humanity, including the abduction, rape, and torture of women and children. Torture and lengthy pre-trial detention remained serious problems throughout the country. Corruption was a significant and growing problem, particularly in the executive branch.
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