Uganda provides
national elections for a
presidentThe President of Uganda is the head of state in Uganda. The role began as a largely ceremonial position, with the Prime Minister holding the true power. The first president was the king of Buganda, due to the power of the monarchist Kabaka Yekka party. In 1966 Prime Minister Milton Obote...
and a
legislatureA legislature is a type of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law...
. The president is elected for a five year term. The
National AssemblyThe Parliament of Uganda, comprises 215 Constituency Representatives, 79 District Woman Representatives, 10 Uganda People's Defence Forces Representatives, 5 Representatives of the Youth, 5 Representatives of Persons with Disabilities, 5 Representatives of Workers, and 13 Ex-officio Members.After...
has 292 members. 214 members are elected without party labels directly in single seat
constituenciesA constituency is any cohesive body of people bound by shared identity, goals, or loyalty. Constituency can be used to describe a business's customer base and shareholders, or a charity's donors or those it serves...
, while 78 members are elected from so-called special interest groups. These include 53 District Women Representatives (one from each
districtUganda is divided into 80 districts across four administrative regions. Most districts are named after their main commercial and administrative towns. Eleven new districts came into being on 1 July 2006....
), 10 army representatives, 5 youth representatives, 5 representatives from the disabled and 5 from
trade unionA trade union is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas, such as working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labor contracts with employers...
s.
UgandaThe Republic of Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by Tanzania...
first had presidential elections in December 1980.
Uganda provides
national elections for a
presidentThe President of Uganda is the head of state in Uganda. The role began as a largely ceremonial position, with the Prime Minister holding the true power. The first president was the king of Buganda, due to the power of the monarchist Kabaka Yekka party. In 1966 Prime Minister Milton Obote...
and a
legislatureA legislature is a type of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law...
. The president is elected for a five year term. The
National AssemblyThe Parliament of Uganda, comprises 215 Constituency Representatives, 79 District Woman Representatives, 10 Uganda People's Defence Forces Representatives, 5 Representatives of the Youth, 5 Representatives of Persons with Disabilities, 5 Representatives of Workers, and 13 Ex-officio Members.After...
has 292 members. 214 members are elected without party labels directly in single seat
constituenciesA constituency is any cohesive body of people bound by shared identity, goals, or loyalty. Constituency can be used to describe a business's customer base and shareholders, or a charity's donors or those it serves...
, while 78 members are elected from so-called special interest groups. These include 53 District Women Representatives (one from each
districtUganda is divided into 80 districts across four administrative regions. Most districts are named after their main commercial and administrative towns. Eleven new districts came into being on 1 July 2006....
), 10 army representatives, 5 youth representatives, 5 representatives from the disabled and 5 from
trade unionA trade union is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas, such as working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labor contracts with employers...
s.
Overview
UgandaThe Republic of Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by Tanzania...
first had presidential elections in December 1980. They were, however, characterised by massive intimidation and vote rigging. Neither the majority of the population nor the few international observers that monitored the process accepted the results.
Yoweri MuseveniYoweri Kaguta Museveni has been the President of Uganda since 29 January 1986.Museveni was involved in a war that deposed Idi Amin, ending his rule in 1979, and in the rebellion that subsequently led to the demise of the Milton Obote regime in 1985...
, one of the presidential aspirants, protested by waging a
guerrilla warGuerrilla warfare is the irregular warfare warfare and combat in which a small group of combatants use mobile military tactics in the form of ambushes and raids to combat a larger and less mobile formal army....
against the new government of
Milton OboteApolo Milton Obote , Prime Minister of Uganda from 1962 to 1966 and President of Uganda from 1966 to 1971 and from 1980 to 1985, was a Ugandan political leader who led Uganda to independence from the British colonial administration in 1962. He ruled by harassing, terrorizing, and torturing...
. His group managed to take power in 1985, making him President.
In 1996, the first free and fair elections were held, and the incumbent Museveni emerged as winner. This made him the first democratically elected president of the Republic of Uganda.
In 2001, the incumbent Museveni triumphed after a hotly contested election beating Dr.
Kizza BesigyeWarren Kizza Besigye Kifefe is a former colonel in the Ugandan army, chairman of the Forum for Democratic Change party and was a contestant in Uganda's 2001 and 2006 presidential elections....
, a former ally and his personal doctor during the 1980-85 guerrilla war. Despite a protest against the results in the high court citing massive voter intimidation and massive rigging, the outcome was accepted as the choice of the people.
In July 2005, a second referendum was held on the return to a multi-party political system (
see Uganda multiparty referendum, 2005Ugandans voted to restore a multi-party political system in a constitutional referendum held on 28 July, 2005. Political parties were barred from competing in elections for nearly 20 years in order to curb sectarian tensions. President Yoweri Museveni instituted the non-party "Movement" system of...
).
The latest elections, held in 2006, were the first multiparty election in twenty years.
Latest elections (February 2006)
General elections December 1980
| Party |
Seats |
| Uganda People's Congress The Uganda People's Congress is a political party in Uganda.Uganda People's Congress was founded in 1955 by Milton Obote, who later served two presidential terms under the party's banner...
|
73 |
| Democratic Party The Democratic Party is a moderate conservative political party in Uganda. It was led by Paul Ssemogerere for 25 years until his retirement in November 2005. John Ssebaana Kizito, the Mayor of Kampala, was elected Party President General on November 28, 2005....
|
52 |
| Uganda Patriotic Movement The Uganda Patriotic Movement is a defunct political party in Uganda. It was founded by Yoweri Museveni and participated in the December 1980 general elections, which were won by Milton Obote's Uganda People's Congress...
|
1 |
| Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a political party in Uganda. It is led by Nsubuga Nsambu.In the general election of 23 February 2006, the party won 1 out of 289 elected seats....
|
0 |
| Total seats |
126 |
Source: Uganda 1979-85:Leadership in Transition, Jimmy K. Tindigarukayo
Presidential elections 1996
| Candidate |
Percentage |
Yoweri MuseveniYoweri Kaguta Museveni has been the President of Uganda since 29 January 1986.Museveni was involved in a war that deposed Idi Amin, ending his rule in 1979, and in the rebellion that subsequently led to the demise of the Milton Obote regime in 1985...
|
75.5% |
| Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere |
22.3% |
| Muhammad Kibirige Mayanja |
2.2% |
| Turnout |
72.6% |
Source: The Uganda Presidential and Parliamentary Elections 1996, James Katorobo, No. 17, Les Cahiers d'Afrique de l'est
Presidential elections 2001
| Candidate |
Number of votes |
Percentage |
Yoweri MuseveniYoweri Kaguta Museveni has been the President of Uganda since 29 January 1986.Museveni was involved in a war that deposed Idi Amin, ending his rule in 1979, and in the rebellion that subsequently led to the demise of the Milton Obote regime in 1985...
|
5,123,360 |
69.33% |
| Kizza Besigye Warren Kizza Besigye Kifefe is a former colonel in the Ugandan army, chairman of the Forum for Democratic Change party and was a contestant in Uganda's 2001 and 2006 presidential elections....
|
2,055,795 |
27.82% |
| Aggrey Awori Aggrey Awori is a Ugandan politician and a member of the ruling National Resistance Movement party. He is currently the Minister of Information and Communications Technology...
|
103,915 |
1.41% |
| Muhammad Kibirige Mayanja |
73,790 |
1.00% |
| Francis Bwengye |
22,751 |
0.31% |
| Karuhanga Chapaa |
10,080 |
0.14% |
| Turnout |
7,389,691 |
70.3% |
On March 23 2001,
Kizza BesigyeWarren Kizza Besigye Kifefe is a former colonel in the Ugandan army, chairman of the Forum for Democratic Change party and was a contestant in Uganda's 2001 and 2006 presidential elections....
challenged the election results in the Supreme Court of Uganda. Two of the five judges concluded that there were such illegalities in the elections that the results should be thrown out. The other three judges decided that the illegalities did not affect the result of the election in a substantial manner, but stated that "there was evidence that in a significant number of Polling Stations there was cheating" and that in some areas of the country, "the principle of free and fair election was compromised."
http://hrw.org/reports/2004/uganda0404/5.htm
Multiparty referendum 2005
"Do you agree to open up the political space to allow those who wish to join different organisations/ parties to do so to compete for political power?"
| Option |
Number of votes |
Percentage |
| Yes |
3,643,223 |
92.4% |
| No |
297,865 |
7.6% |
| Turnout |
3,941,088 |
47.3% |
Source: Uganda Electoral Commission
Ugandan general election, 2006
Press reports
External links