Donors reluctant to fund Uganda polls
Posted by Relief Web
August 23, 2005
With the Uganda general election set for next March, the electoral commission has not yet managed to secure any funds to get the electoral process going. A.MUTUMBA LULE and JULIUS BARIGABA report
After spending Ush22 billion ($12.5 million) on a referendum, dismissed by critics as unnecessary, the Uganda Electoral Commission is seeking another Ush74 billion ($42.3 million) for the general election slated for March 2006.
However, donors – who finance more than half of Uganda's budget – have not committed themselves to funding the election.
EC secretary Sam Rwakoojo told The EastAfrican last week, said $42.3 million was required to carry out the presidential, parliamentary and local council elections, which for the first time will be held on the same day.
He said although the EC had met with several donors, no financial commitment had been made.
"We have been talking to them but, so far, there has been no response. I don't know whether they will respond, because they have not shown any signs of doing so," said Mr Rwakoojo.
Donors turned down an EC request to fund the referendum on the return to multiparty politics, which President Yoweri Museveni banned when he took power in 1986.
He blamed political parties for the economic decline in the country between 1966 and 1985.
However, the EC expects to get funds from the Treasury to start working on the election plans after parliament passes the vote next month. The funds will then be released in September or October.
An official at the Netherlands embassy in Kampala, who declined to be named, said that several missions were in talks to consider funding the elections and a decision could be reached within six months.
Inadequate funding and the late release of the money has been the commission's undoing over the years.
Local and foreign observers at the July 28 referendum said the EC had not done enough voter education and sensitisation because government had released funds only weeks into the poll and it came in instalments.
The Uganda Human Rights Comimission last week released its report on the referendum, which condemned the government for the late release of funds. It said that this may have contributed to the poor organisation of the referendum, leading to a turnout of only 47 per cent of the 8.5 million registered voters.
Nominations for parliamentary and presidential candidates will be done in December, EC officials said. The last elections held under multipartyism were in 1980, in which the Democratic Party fielded Dr Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere while the Conservative Party was represented by Mayanja Nkangi.
Museveni stood on a Uganda Patriotic Movement ticket, as the Uganda People's Congress fielded Dr Milton Obote.
Dr Obote won the elections, but DP and UPM protested over the outcome, accusing Dr Obote of rigging.
This was one of the factors that led Museveni to found the rebel National Resistant Movement in 1981, which fought a five-year war with the government of Dr Obote.
After winning the war, Museveni was sworn in as president on January 29, 1986, and immediately banned party activities, limiting their operations to their headquarters.
He ruled unelected for 10 years, only holding elections in 1996, but under the Movement's single party system.
He won a five-year term in a landslide. In 2001, another election was organised also under the Movement system, which he also won in a landslide.
However, his main challenger, Dr Kiiza Besigye, protested over the outcome of the elections and went to court, which found out that indeed there were irregularities in the elections, but not to a level to influence the final outcome.
Analysts point out that the first multiparty elections could suffer the same fate as the referendum because of funding problems.
EC officials told The EastAfrican that besides the government, they had talked to foreign missions over funding the elections.
The only important activity the EC is engaged in at present is updating the voters' register, which will go on until the end of September.
The tallying of votes is also expected to take longer than the mandated 48 hours, but the EC is working with parliament to have the voting hours extended.
Currently, voting starts at 7 am and ends at 5 pm to allow the counting of votes to be done while it is still daylight. An extension here will mean going on to 7 pm.
The process of tendering for voters civic education is yet to start because the EC does not have the funds to advertise for tenders.
Already, pressure groups and opposition parties are expressing fears that this delay is another deliberate effort to manipulate the electoral process.
August 23, 2005
With the Uganda general election set for next March, the electoral commission has not yet managed to secure any funds to get the electoral process going. A.MUTUMBA LULE and JULIUS BARIGABA report
After spending Ush22 billion ($12.5 million) on a referendum, dismissed by critics as unnecessary, the Uganda Electoral Commission is seeking another Ush74 billion ($42.3 million) for the general election slated for March 2006.
However, donors – who finance more than half of Uganda's budget – have not committed themselves to funding the election.
EC secretary Sam Rwakoojo told The EastAfrican last week, said $42.3 million was required to carry out the presidential, parliamentary and local council elections, which for the first time will be held on the same day.
He said although the EC had met with several donors, no financial commitment had been made.
"We have been talking to them but, so far, there has been no response. I don't know whether they will respond, because they have not shown any signs of doing so," said Mr Rwakoojo.
Donors turned down an EC request to fund the referendum on the return to multiparty politics, which President Yoweri Museveni banned when he took power in 1986.
He blamed political parties for the economic decline in the country between 1966 and 1985.
However, the EC expects to get funds from the Treasury to start working on the election plans after parliament passes the vote next month. The funds will then be released in September or October.
An official at the Netherlands embassy in Kampala, who declined to be named, said that several missions were in talks to consider funding the elections and a decision could be reached within six months.
Inadequate funding and the late release of the money has been the commission's undoing over the years.
Local and foreign observers at the July 28 referendum said the EC had not done enough voter education and sensitisation because government had released funds only weeks into the poll and it came in instalments.
The Uganda Human Rights Comimission last week released its report on the referendum, which condemned the government for the late release of funds. It said that this may have contributed to the poor organisation of the referendum, leading to a turnout of only 47 per cent of the 8.5 million registered voters.
Nominations for parliamentary and presidential candidates will be done in December, EC officials said. The last elections held under multipartyism were in 1980, in which the Democratic Party fielded Dr Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere while the Conservative Party was represented by Mayanja Nkangi.
Museveni stood on a Uganda Patriotic Movement ticket, as the Uganda People's Congress fielded Dr Milton Obote.
Dr Obote won the elections, but DP and UPM protested over the outcome, accusing Dr Obote of rigging.
This was one of the factors that led Museveni to found the rebel National Resistant Movement in 1981, which fought a five-year war with the government of Dr Obote.
After winning the war, Museveni was sworn in as president on January 29, 1986, and immediately banned party activities, limiting their operations to their headquarters.
He ruled unelected for 10 years, only holding elections in 1996, but under the Movement's single party system.
He won a five-year term in a landslide. In 2001, another election was organised also under the Movement system, which he also won in a landslide.
However, his main challenger, Dr Kiiza Besigye, protested over the outcome of the elections and went to court, which found out that indeed there were irregularities in the elections, but not to a level to influence the final outcome.
Analysts point out that the first multiparty elections could suffer the same fate as the referendum because of funding problems.
EC officials told The EastAfrican that besides the government, they had talked to foreign missions over funding the elections.
The only important activity the EC is engaged in at present is updating the voters' register, which will go on until the end of September.
The tallying of votes is also expected to take longer than the mandated 48 hours, but the EC is working with parliament to have the voting hours extended.
Currently, voting starts at 7 am and ends at 5 pm to allow the counting of votes to be done while it is still daylight. An extension here will mean going on to 7 pm.
The process of tendering for voters civic education is yet to start because the EC does not have the funds to advertise for tenders.
Already, pressure groups and opposition parties are expressing fears that this delay is another deliberate effort to manipulate the electoral process.
posted by chocolate_eyes @ 10:15 AM
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