Great Lakes send delegation to observe Thursday polls

Feb 16, 2016

The group touched down in Kampala after observers from the Commonwealth and EU arrived in the country late last week.

 

KAMPALA - International election observers to monitor what polls have projected as a two-man race between incumbent Yoweri Museveni and opposition leader Kizza Besigye in the February 18 general elections continued to arrive into the country Tuesday, with the latest a delegation of fifteen overseers from the great lakes region.

The group, headed by Hon Pedro Sebastiao from the national assembly of the Republic of Angola and president of the executive committee of the Forum of Parliaments of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (FP - ICGLR), touched down in Kampala after observers from the Commonwealth and European Union arrived in the country late last week.

Pedro Sebastiao said: "FP - ICGLR informs the national and international opinion of the arrival and deployment of its election observer's mission in the republic of Uganda."

He was addressing journalists at the Metropole Hotel in Kampala shortly after the election observers' arrival.

The forum of parliaments of the ICGLLR intervenes in democracy and good governance, peace and security, humanitarian and social issues, economic development, natural resources and regional integration, and issues of gender, children and vulnerable people.

 ecretary eneral of    rosper igiro centre interacting with edro ebastia during the forum eft is ickson hilangwa a member of   redit odiver sege Secretary General of FP - ICGLR Prosper Higiro (centre) interacting with Pedro Sebastia during the forum. Left is Nickson Chilangwa, a member of FP - ICGLR.(Credit: Godiver Asege)

 

The main objective of the mission is to observe the general elections, assess the level of implementation of the ICGLR Protocol on democracy and good governance, the constitution of the Republic of Uganda and other relevant Acts regarding the organisation of the election and to assess if the election is peaceful, fair, democratic, transparent, and conducted in such a manner that its final results reflects the will of the Ugandan people.

The FP - ICGLR was established on December 4, 2008 in Kigali, Rwanda when the inter-parliamentary agreement establishing the FP — ICGLR was signed. During its plenary assembly in Khartoum, Sudan in 2010, the FP-ICGL decided to establish its head office in Kinshasa, Congo.

The inter-parliamentary organisation brings together the national parliaments of the 12 member states of the international conference on the great lakes region namely: the Republic of Angola, the Republic of Burundi, the Republic of Kenya, the Republic of Uganda, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Rwanda, the Republic of South Sudan, the Republic of Sudan, the United Republic of Tanzania, and the Republic of Zambia.

The mission of the observes is composed of representatives of the Parliaments of the ICGLR member countries, the supporting staff of the general secretariat of the FP - ICGLR, the senate of Kenya and the national assembly of Angola.

Pedro Sebastiao said: "The observer mission is on the ground to see how the electoral process was just before the election date, observe how the general election will be carried out; that is from opening of the polling stations, voting by the people, tallying at polling stations up to the final tally."

At the end of its mission, the FP — ICGLR will give out its observations on how the entire exercise was carried out as per the election rules of the Republic of Uganda, regional and international commitments related to elections taken by Uganda and other Acts relevant to elections, he said.

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