Uganda - Election 2006
Uganda, with a population of 26.4 million, is a republic led by President Yoweri Museveni, who continued to dominate the government. The February 23 presidential and parliamentary elections generally reflected the will of the electorate; however, both were marred by serious irregularities.
The law restricts freedom of assembly for unregistered political groups and parties. For groups legally authorized to operate, permits were not required for public meetings; however, groups were required to notify the police prior to such gatherings. Police denied permission to hold public rallies and forcibly dispersed demonstrations.
The independent media were generally active and expressed a wide variety of views. There were many privately owned publications and broadcasts. The Daily Monitor, the country's largest independent daily newspaper, consistently criticized the government. The Weekly Observer, an independent journal, continued to publish critical pieces despite the government's pursuit of a case against an Observer editor and reporter. The East African, a Kenya based weekly publication that provided extensive reporting on the country, continued to circulate without government hindrance.
The government continued to operate the only public radio and television stations whose reporting was not considered to be independent. Government controlled media provided more coverage of President Museveni's reelection campaign than his opponents'. The Uganda Journalist Safety Committee reported that during the week of February 9-15, in the run-up to the elections, electronic media devoted 43 percent of overall election coverage to President Museveni versus six percent to opposition candidate Kizza Besigye. Independent radio stations that hosted opposition political candidates on talk shows in which critical statements were made against the government or the military were sometimes subject to government interference.
On February 23, the country held its first multiparty general elections since President Museveni came to power in 1986; a July 2005 national referendum resulted in the adoption of a multiparty system of government and the subsequent inclusion of opposition parties in elections and government. The election generally reflected the will of the people, although serious irregularities occurred. Ruling NRM candidate President Museveni was declared the winner with 59.26 percent of the vote, giving him a third term in office following the passage of a controversial amendment in June 2005 to eliminate presidential term limits. Opposition FDC leader Kizza Besigye captured 37.39 percent of the vote, while the remaining contestants received less than 2 percent of the vote each, according to official figures from the Electoral Commission. On March 7, Besigye filed an election petition challenging the results of the elections. On April 6, the Supreme Court narrowly rejected the petition, ruling that although serious irregularities had occurred, they did not substantially affect the outcome of the race. The opinion acknowledged that irregularities included disenfranchisement of voters, particularly with regard to names missing from the voter roll; counting and tallying problems; bribery; intimidation; incidents of violence; multiple voting; and ballot stuffing in some areas. The international community, including the delegation of Commonwealth election observers, generally concurred with these findings.
The police recorded 450 cases of violence during the election period. On February 15, Lieutenant Ramadhan Magara, a UPDF soldier, killed two persons and injured several others when he fired into a crowd gathered to see Besigye during his visit to Buganda Kingdom in Mengo. Mangara was arrested and the case was ongoing at year's end.
Parliamentary contests, which included seats for 11 new districts approved by parliament in June 2005, resulted in the election of 309 members, including 205 from the NRM, 37 from the FDC, nine from the Uganda Justice Forum (JEEMA), and 37 independent members.
More than 100 election challenges were filed following the parliamentary elections. Charges included bribery, intimidation, incidents of violence, multiple voting, and ballot stuffing. The High Court nullified six election results, and special elections for the seats in question were scheduled during the year. The courts dismissed more than 20 other petitions during the year; the remaining were pending before the courts at year's end.
In October 2005 FDC leader Kizza Besigye returned from self imposed exile and was elected as the party's presidential candidate. In November 2005 police arrested and charged Besigye and 22 other FDC members with treason for allegedly organizing the rebel group PRA. The 23 suspects were also charged with terrorism and possession of illegal arms by the UPDF Court martial (see section 1.d.). On July 11, Minister of Local Government Kahinda Otafiire warned public servants working in local government against openly declaring their political affiliations, stating that it would place them at risk for being dismissed. He was responding to complaints from opposition MPs that FDC members were being discriminated against in employment.
The ruling NRM regularly held rallies, conducted political activities, and in 2003 registered the National Resistance Movement Organization, the ruling political party that generally operated without restriction. Approximately 33 parties were allowed to function, including political parties that existed in 1986, when the NRM assumed power.
Opposition parties were active during the year. On June 19, the leading opposition party named a 21 member shadow cabinet. During the year the NRM party twice invited the six main political parties to discuss multiparty cooperation; the meetings were attended by all the invited parties except FDC and JEEMA, which boycotted.
There were 99 women in the 333 member parliament. There were seven female ministers and seven female junior ministers in the president's 66 member cabinet. Female activists were concerned that the number did not meet the required 40 percent female representation in the cabinet. One woman served as deputy speaker and another as deputy chief justice of the Supreme Court. Women also headed the Inspectorate General of Government and the CID.
There were 105 members of minority groups in parliament. The law requires elections through electoral colleges for the seats reserved for special interest groups in parliament: 80 seats were reserved for women; five for organized labor; five for persons with disabilities; five for youth; and 10 for the Army, which were selected by the UPDF High Command and chaired by President Museveni.
Uganda's Supreme Court in its judgement on the 2006 elections identified a number of problems. These included the use of bribery and intimidation, and the undermining of the principles of equal suffrage and the transparency and secrecy of the ballot by multiple voting and vote stuffing in some areas. The Supreme Court expressed particular concern about the continued involvement of the security forces in the conduct of elections, disenfranchisement of voters by deleting their names from the voters' register, partisan conduct and malpractice by electoral officials, and the inadequacy of voter education.
It is worth noting that electoral observers, including the East African Community, the European Union and Commonwealth observation missions, identified similar shortcomings and expressed concernn about the use of public resources in the election campaign. 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.
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