Presidential poll in Uganda put off

By M.S. Prabhakara

CAPE TOWN, MARCH 7. The Presidential election in Uganda, which was to have taken place today, has been deferred to March 12.

The Ugandan Electoral Commission took this decision after consulting representatives of all the six candidates in the fray, following complaints from various candidates about the electoral rolls. Specifically, the complaints related to the decision of the Electoral Commission, following the publication of the voters' register last month, to reduce the period allotted to the display of voters' registers from the statutory 21 days to just three days. There have been complaints about an inflated voters' register and the `integrity' of the electoral rolls, and reports that foreigners from Rwanda and Congolese rebels have been involved in the election process.

The President, Mr. Yoweri Museveni, leads a field of six candidates for President. Though he has been in power since January 1986 when his National Resistance Army successfully marched into Kampala, this is only the second time that he is contesting the poll. There was no elected government in the first 10 years of his rule when the priority was national reconciliation, the adoption of a new constitution enacted in October 1995, and reconstruction of the war ravaged economy.

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Section  : International
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