Opposition, civil society to hold joint rallies

Feb 13, 2014

Opposition parties and the civil society groups will carry out joint rallies across the country to mobilize Ugandans to support the 10 demands for free and fair elections which they launched on Monday.

By Moses Mulondo and Dennis Onyango

Opposition parties and the civil society groups will carry out joint rallies across the country to mobilize Ugandans to support the 10 demands for free and fair elections which they launched on Monday.


Addressing journalists, the UPC president Olara Otunnu said they would begin a series of rallies in Jinja district over the weekend.

Otunnu has been coordinating the meetings and activities which have resulted into a joint platform for the opposition parties and civil society groups to push for electoral and political reforms which will lead to free and fair elections.

The opposition and the civil society also plan to carry out peaceful processions and conferences across the country as they campaign for free and fair elections.

These meetings have been taking place at UPC’s Uganda House and will continue to take place as the campaign for reforms intensifies.

The electoral and political demands they launched include; an Independent and impartial electoral commission, new clean and verifiable voters’ register, exclusion of the army in the electoral process, blocking massive diversion of public funds and demarcation of electoral boundaries.

Others are; freedom to organize and assemble, transparent selection of presiding officers, involving the opposition in processing and storing of electoral materials, ensuring integrity of the tallying process and new model for adjudicating presidential election dispute.

Otunnu also revealed that the opposition parties represented in parliament are moving towards signing a memorandum of understanding to work together as a unified force.

On the internal conflicts within UPC and other opposition parties, Otunnu said the wrangles are partly fueled by the NRM government through monetary inducements.

Reacting to the UPC MPs who attack him for being undemocratic, Otunnu said, “all the key decisions UPC endorses are democratically decided after discussions in the National Council and other party organs. All dissenting views in UPC are welcome.”

On what he is doing to reconcile UPC members, Otunnu said, “whereas the door is widen open for all party members to come and present their concerns, we have drawn a line between those who genuinely support the party cause and those who are executing President Museveni’s projects while wearing UPC colours.”

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