Crowds cheer Museveni's poll bid

December 15, 2005
Posted By BBC News

Large crowds have turned out to cheer Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni as he submitted his nomination papers for elections due next year.
He was wearing a dark suit, yellow tie and a baseball cap as he handed over his forms in a stadium, Reuters news agency reports.

Mr Museveni's main rival is expected to be Kizza Besigye, who was nominated on Wednesday even though he is in prison.

He says the treason and terrorism charges were to stop him running.

Mr Museveni has already been in power for 19 years and would have been barred from contesting future elections had it not been for a recent change in the law.

'Golden moment'

After studying Mr Museveni's papers for 10 minutes, Electoral Commission Chairman Badru Kiggundu announced: "Now the golden moment... I hereby declare Museveni Yoweri Kaguta a duly nominated presidential candidate for presidential elections 2006."


For Dr Besigye's nomination ceremony on Wednesday, officials from his Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party stuck a poster of Dr Besigye on an empty chair with a baseball cap on top.

The FDC has vowed that Dr Besigye will defeat Mr Museveni from prison if his trial has not ended by election time.

However, if found guilty Dr Besigye will have to withdraw from the presidential race.

He has denied claims that he is linked to two rebel groups.

He was arrested in November, three weeks after ending a four-year exile, vowing to end Mr Museveni's "dictatorship".

This is the first multi-party election since 1980 and 35 people are intending to contest, including the widow of former President Milton Obote.