ACE Electoral Knowledge Network

News

• Nov 05, 2009: Uganda: EC should be kicked out over ghosts - peers, Daily Monitor (2009) Dr Zac Niringiye, the chairperson of APRM Governing Council, said President Museveni should disband the current national electoral body and replace it with a new and independent EC which can command public confidence.
• Nov 05, 2009: Uganda:Clarification on allegations of existence of ‘one million ghost voters on the National Voters’ Register’,EC (2009) The Electoral Commission would like to refute the claims in the above articles and provide clarification on the issues raised therein as follows:
• Nov 04, 2009: East African countries to have common electoral laws, Daily Monitor (2009) Mr Kategaya told journalists in Kampala yesterday that the East African Community (EAC) secretariat is formulating electoral practices which will apply in all member states. He added that this is being done to fast track the political federation of East Africa.
• Nov 03, 2009: Uganda: Museveni ordered ghost voter probe, New Vision (2009) PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni says he commissioned and funded the research into ghost voters on the national register. The researchers discovered anomalies as they compiled the NRM register while comparing it with the national one, but the report is not yet final, Museveni said.
• Oct 30, 2009: 5,000 ghost polling stations call for overhaul of Electoral Commission, Monitor Online (2009) Whatever its intentions may be, the presence of one million ghost voters and 5,000 ghost polling stations, for three successive general election on our national register all demonstrates that the electoral system in Uganda needs complete overhaul.
• Oct 23, 2009: NRM inquiry reveals how a million ‘ghost’ voters got to EC register, Monitor Online (2009) These are preliminary findings of a wide study and all property; intellectual rights belong to the research team. This has been a voluntary effort for purposes of strengthening NRM Party Systems.
• Sep 07, 2009: CUF calls for release of elections rules, Daily News (2009) THE Opposition party, the Civic United Front (CUF), yesterday called for the immediate release of the regulations for the civic elections at the grass-root level which are scheduled for October 25, this year.
• Sep 04, 2009: 2011 polls: Battle lines drawn, Monitor (2009) Ugandans should prepare for a heady 2011 general elections as potential presidential candidates storm the countryside to court voters largely left in the cold since the last elections more than three years ago.
• Sep 03, 2009: Bidandi hits back at Museveni on Polls, Daily Monitor (2009) “The decision you have made to reappoint the current Electoral Commission team to manage the 2011 general elections is very unfortunate and dangerous to the stability of this country,” Mr Bidandi wrote.
• Aug 13, 2009: Row as elections team is approved, Monitor Online (2009) Legislators on the Committee, who subscribe to the ruling National Resistance Movement, were however unmoved by the walk out, as they unanimously approved all the six commissioners re-appointed by the President on August 5.
• Aug 12, 2009: Museveni gives EC team another term, Monitor Online (2009) “The Attorney General has recommended the re-appointment of members of the Electoral Commission and I have approved them. However, in order to fulfil the requirements for the re-appointment process, I hereby recommend that you vet them accordingly,” Mr Museveni wrote in his one-page letter.
• Jun 25, 2009: Two top officials of the ruling NRM confess of Rigging the polls, Monitor (2009) “It is true some of our big people in the NRM rig elections,” Deputy spokesperson Ofwono Opondo said, adding that some NRM party officials facilitate independents and opposition candidates to trounce the party’s official candidates.
• Jun 24, 2009: Opposition parties to protest Museveni’s stand on reforms, Monitor (2009) The opposition parties under the Inter-Party Cooperation (IPC) had demanded that to make the Electoral Commission more independent, the powers to appoint EC commissioners be vested in the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) with approval of Parliament.
• Jan 21, 2009: NRM’s Byarugaba wins Isingiro, New Vision (2009) Byarugaba got 58,965 votes (80.2%) defeating her Forum for Democratic Change opponent, Stella Kyakuhaire Kafureka, who polled 14,534 votes (19.8%).
• Nov 13, 2008: Museveni unlikely to hand over power - poll, Monitor Online (2008) More than half of Ugandans believe President Museveni is unlikely to voluntarily hand over power if the ruling National Resistance Movement party loses the 2011 general election, fresh details from an opinion poll commissioned by Daily Monitor indicate.
• Aug 06, 2008: Election season starts early (Monitor Daily, 2008) 5th August announcement of an opposition coalition to take on the ruling National Resistance Movement and explore the possibilities of fielding a joint candidate in 2011 effectively marks the start of the unofficial campaign for the 2011 election.
• May 23, 2008: Kivejinja spars with journalists over crackdown, Monitor Online (2008) Information and National Guidance minister Kirunda Kivejinja had a rough time yesterday allaying public fears that a special ministerial taskforce constituted to revisit media operations in the country was not a government ploy to muzzle media freedom.
• May 22, 2008: Government to fund party activities, Uganda Parliament (2008) The Attorney General and Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Hon. Khiddu Makubuya Wednesday April 2,tabled before Parliament the Political Parties and Organizations (Amendment) Bill 2008.
• May 22, 2008: Uganda: Judges Want Ban for Election Fraudsters, All Africa (2008) Candidates found to have committed an electoral offence should not sit in Parliament, should not participate in the bye-elections and should be barred from standing for elections for five years, judges have recommended
• May 22, 2008: Rule As Long As You Are Popular, Gaddafi Tells Museveni,All Africa (2008) Libyan leader Muammar Gadaffi on Tuesday urged President Yoweri Museveni to rule for life as long as he has the will of the people.