Uganda: Election: Ugandans go to the polls on Monday

(10 Mar 2001) English/Nat

Ugandans go to the polls on Monday and they have plenty to thank President Yoweri Museveni for: relative peace, a thriving economy, rising incomes and a reduction in the H-I-V infection rate.

But he cannot count on his accomplishments alone to guarantee him another five-year term.

In next week's election, Museveni faces his strongest challenge yet after a campaign that has tested the former guerrilla leader's commitment to democracy.

The contest is the most competitive since he took power in 1986, ousting a military junta that had overthrown President Milton Obote a year earlier.

In the May 1996 presidential elections, Museveni faced no serious challengers and won 73 percent of the vote.

Ugandan elections since 1995 have been mainly free and fair and considered models for Africa, but many worry this election may be tainted.

Museveni looks likely to win, but the strength of Kizza Besigye's challenge has led some to bet on him as a long shot for an upset if there is a runoff.

In a final sprint to elections next week, presidential contender Kizza Besigye told more than 10,000 cheering supporters on Friday that another term for President Yoweri Museveni would lead to Uganda's winning a "world cup for corruption."

Besigye broke from Museveni's National Resistance Movement in January, complaining of widespread corruption and complacency.

He has made fighting corruption the centerpiece of his campaign.

Political parties are not allowed to campaign or draft platforms under Uganda's "no-party" system, though they are allowed to exist.

Candidates are expected to mount their own campaigns and draft their own platforms.

But in the run-up to the election, recent electoral violence has also polarised the nation.

Museveni's presidential protection unit recently opened fire on opposition supporters going home from a rally, killing at least one elderly man.

A senior opposition campaigner also recently fled the country after being detained by military intelligence officers.

In all, between eight and 12 people have been killed in campaign violence, depending on who is keeping toll.

Opinion polls put Museveni's support above the 51 percent needed for an outright victory in the first round. But Besigye's support has also shown a steady upward trend in recent weeks.

There are five other candidates in the race, but polls show that fewer than 5 percent of voters back them.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"I am a supporter of Yoweri Museveni- 700 per cent because he is a good man."
SUPER CAPTION: Voxpop

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"I am rather saddened by the response of the government and especially President Museveni to this electoral process. His attempt to compromise the process by involving the army, which is run by partisan commanders who have publicly supported him to be in charge of the security of this election. I think this is not good for the democratic process and if it continues the process will be hijacked."
SUPER CAPTION: Doctor Kizza Besigye, Presidential contender

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"There have been acts of intimidation, there have been acts of defacing electioneering materials. There have been acts of actual violence, you have seen levels of hooliganism so what the intelligence is indicating is not far-fetched."
SUPER CAPTION: Major General Odong JJ, Uganda Army

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