IT IS RUBBISH TO ARGUE THAT BECAUSE UGANDA IS A YOUNG DEMOCRAY, THERE SHOULD NOT BE REGIME CHANGE

It is common knowledge that the Electoral Commission (EC) is an organ of the NRM. It is no secret that the vote register on which billion have been spent has many ghosts. They can sing praises for the NRM, but the day they get to their senses, they will realize that what they call a young democracy and a leader can cling on may turn and they may be worse victims. Stop taking Ugandans for fools. People are looting the country left and right, all injustice is going on including some of the acts the EC is involved in. But time is now for all of use to get to our senses and do things right.       

William Kituuka Kiwanuka

REGIME CHANGE FINDINGS FALL SHORT, EC SAYS

By John Njoroge Posted Friday, June 29 2012 at 01:00

In Summary Hasty process: Electoral Commission officials say the researchers of the report should have exhaustively acquainted themselves with the democratic process in the country before making conclusions. Researchers should appreciate Uganda’s growing infant democracy while assessing the political atmosphere in the country, the Electoral Commission (EC) has said. The comment came a day after researchers from Makerere University’s Political Science department and the French Institute for Research and Development said it was unlikely for change of government to occur in Uganda through elections in the current political environment. Declining to comment further on the research inference that election outcomes in Uganda do not necessarily reflect the will of the people, EC spokesperson Willy Ochola yesterday said the researchers should have exhaustively acquainted themselves with the country’s past history before drawing such conclusions. “Our democracy is still young and you cannot judge it like European democracies that have lasted hundreds of years,” Mr Ochola said. Although yet to be published formally, the preliminary findings of the new research state Uganda has a disillusioned electorate. Uganda has also been described as to have a complex hybrid regime which combines open restrictions of the enjoyment of democratic rights while seemingly allowing free will of the people to flourish. Share This Story Share The researchers also concluded that the 2011 post-election violence reflected public dissatisfaction with Uganda’s electoral processes. President Museveni was declared winner of last year’s elections with 68.38 per cent over a 26 per cent reported as having been garnered by Dr Kizza Besigye, the Forum for Democratic Change president. Outright rejection of these results by the combined political opposition sparked off a series of protests countrywide which were brutally slapped down by the security services last year. The researchers also looked at the roles played by the opposition and donors in Uganda’s democracy. While donors have been accused of sacrificing democratic ideals for other interests like Uganda’s oil and its role in the war on terror, the opposition has also been accused of involvement in electoral malpractices and voter bribery during last year’s elections. FDC’s Salaam Musumba yesterday questioned the timing of the new research. She, however, agreed with the researchers that the country’s political atmosphere cannot allow for political change through the ballot. “It should be noted that no opposition party has ever won a (presidential) election in this country since 1996. The political environment is anti-change,” Ms Musumba added.

jnjoroge@ug.nationalmedia.com