Ugandans vote for new leaders
Feb 18, 2011
UGANDANS have started casting their votes to elect the country's next head of state and members of Parliament.
By Richard Komakech
and Apollo Mubiru
UGANDANS have started casting their votes to elect the country's next head of state and members of Parliament.
A record turnout is expected in the election. According to the Electoral Commission there are atleast 10.5 milliom registered voters as of October 2009. Uganda’s population is estimated at 32 million.
The Electoral Commission and the Police have called upon voters to be peaceful, observe electoral laws and follow the guidance of the polling officials at their respective polling stations.
Security operatives have been deployed and are keeping watch to guard against disruptions in the polls, violence and ensure a peaceful process.
The media has also been warned against announcing unofficial elections results and inciting violence.
According to the Constitution and electoral statutes, the Electoral Commission has the sole mandate of conducting election and announcing the results.
The body has threatened legal action against announcement of unofficial results.
Incumbent Yoweri Museveni, on the NRM ticket is vying for a fourth term in office while the key opposition candidate, Kizza Besigye is making a third attempt to wrestle power from Museveni.
In total, eight candidates are vying for the presidency. Other than Museveni and Besigye, Nobert Mao of the Democratic Party (DP) and Olara Otunnu of the Uganda People Congress (UPC) are also in the race as are Abed Bwanika of the People’s Development Party’s (PDP), Jaberi Bidandi Ssali, a former local government Minister on the People’s Progress Party (PPP) ticket, Beti Kamya of the Uganda Federal Alliance (UFA) and Samuel Lubega who is an independent candidate.
The NRM party claims to have at least 7.9 million registered members who are all eligible voters. Its candidate Museveni at a news conference at State House Entebbe on Wednesday predicted a land slide victory for his in today’s polls.
He said, “We (NRM) have been winning elections when we had wars within the country. Now that the whole country is peaceful, we shall win with a big margin.†Museveni’s campaign for this year’s election hinged on transforming Uganda into a middle class economy
The closing campaign rallies of the front runners, Museveni, Besigye and Mao were awash with hundreds of fans to express their supporters.
Much of the weight of expectation for the opposition rests on the IPC flag bearer Besigye who making a third attempt at the presidency. Besigye has expressed confidence that this time round victory is on his side.
On the previous two occasions in 2001, 2006 he lost to Museveni and unsuccessfully contested both results in the Supreme Court.
“Make sure you turn up on the polling day and determine the political destiny of your country,†Besigye told his last rally yesterday. He appealed to his supporters not to disrupt the voting process.
The NRM has fielded 364 MP candidates with at least a contender for every constituency and several contestants for special interest groups. FDC has 288 aspirant, UPC has 135 while DP has 120 aspirants. UFA has 66 candidates; PDP has 18 and 33 are contesting on the PPP ticket.
While the opposition has more nominated candidates than it did in the last election, with 660 compared to 355 in 2006, it is not clear whether they will capture a majority of the seats in the House.
The Parliament of Uganda, comprises 215 Constituency representatives, 79 district woman representatives, 10 Uganda People's Defence Forces representatives, 5 representatives of the Youth, 5 representatives of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), 5 representatives of workers, and 13 Ex-officio members.
NRM dominated the outgoing parliament whose term ends in May, with 221 seats.
The main opposition party FDC held 38 seats, UPC had 10 while JEEMA and the Conservative party each had one seat. There were 38 independent candidates with a majority of them NRM leaning.
and Apollo Mubiru
UGANDANS have started casting their votes to elect the country's next head of state and members of Parliament.
A record turnout is expected in the election. According to the Electoral Commission there are atleast 10.5 milliom registered voters as of October 2009. Uganda’s population is estimated at 32 million.
The Electoral Commission and the Police have called upon voters to be peaceful, observe electoral laws and follow the guidance of the polling officials at their respective polling stations.
Security operatives have been deployed and are keeping watch to guard against disruptions in the polls, violence and ensure a peaceful process.
The media has also been warned against announcing unofficial elections results and inciting violence.
According to the Constitution and electoral statutes, the Electoral Commission has the sole mandate of conducting election and announcing the results.
The body has threatened legal action against announcement of unofficial results.
Incumbent Yoweri Museveni, on the NRM ticket is vying for a fourth term in office while the key opposition candidate, Kizza Besigye is making a third attempt to wrestle power from Museveni.
In total, eight candidates are vying for the presidency. Other than Museveni and Besigye, Nobert Mao of the Democratic Party (DP) and Olara Otunnu of the Uganda People Congress (UPC) are also in the race as are Abed Bwanika of the People’s Development Party’s (PDP), Jaberi Bidandi Ssali, a former local government Minister on the People’s Progress Party (PPP) ticket, Beti Kamya of the Uganda Federal Alliance (UFA) and Samuel Lubega who is an independent candidate.
The NRM party claims to have at least 7.9 million registered members who are all eligible voters. Its candidate Museveni at a news conference at State House Entebbe on Wednesday predicted a land slide victory for his in today’s polls.
He said, “We (NRM) have been winning elections when we had wars within the country. Now that the whole country is peaceful, we shall win with a big margin.†Museveni’s campaign for this year’s election hinged on transforming Uganda into a middle class economy
The closing campaign rallies of the front runners, Museveni, Besigye and Mao were awash with hundreds of fans to express their supporters.
Much of the weight of expectation for the opposition rests on the IPC flag bearer Besigye who making a third attempt at the presidency. Besigye has expressed confidence that this time round victory is on his side.
On the previous two occasions in 2001, 2006 he lost to Museveni and unsuccessfully contested both results in the Supreme Court.
“Make sure you turn up on the polling day and determine the political destiny of your country,†Besigye told his last rally yesterday. He appealed to his supporters not to disrupt the voting process.
The NRM has fielded 364 MP candidates with at least a contender for every constituency and several contestants for special interest groups. FDC has 288 aspirant, UPC has 135 while DP has 120 aspirants. UFA has 66 candidates; PDP has 18 and 33 are contesting on the PPP ticket.
While the opposition has more nominated candidates than it did in the last election, with 660 compared to 355 in 2006, it is not clear whether they will capture a majority of the seats in the House.
The Parliament of Uganda, comprises 215 Constituency representatives, 79 district woman representatives, 10 Uganda People's Defence Forces representatives, 5 representatives of the Youth, 5 representatives of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), 5 representatives of workers, and 13 Ex-officio members.
NRM dominated the outgoing parliament whose term ends in May, with 221 seats.
The main opposition party FDC held 38 seats, UPC had 10 while JEEMA and the Conservative party each had one seat. There were 38 independent candidates with a majority of them NRM leaning.