| 20 |
Are there regulations governing political financing? |
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20a:
In law, there are regulations governing private contributions to political parties.
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| Score: |
YES |
NO |
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Comments: The Presidential Elections Act requires that candidates file returns of how they utilized the facilitations given to them by the Electoral Commission. There is almost no element of regulating contributions in this requirement.
References: Cap. 140. S. 19, Political Parties and Other Organisations Act. 2005.
Peer Review Comments: Although the Electoral Commission Act requires that candidates report to the commission on the utilization of funds disbursed for election campaigns, there are no regulations governing private contributions to political parties.
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20b:
In law, there are limits on individual donations to candidates and political parties.
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| Score: |
YES |
NO |
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Comments: The law provides that donations cannot exceed $400 million, however, there are not mechanisms to monitor or regultate this.
References: Political Parties and Other Organizations Act, S. 14.
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20c:
In law, there are limits on corporate donations to candidates and political parties.
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| Score: |
YES |
NO |
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Comments: The Law limits donations from both foreign sources and organizations. It is, however, not clear on how this can be enforced, thus it has been abused by almost all political parties.
References: Political Parties and Other Organizations Act, S. 14.
Peer Review Comments: There are no limitations, but the ruling government greatly fears that massive donations or funding of political parties may bring down or greatly undermine the ruling party. There is keen monitoring of party funding agencies by the government.
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20d:
In law, there are limits on total political party expenditures.
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| Score: |
YES |
NO |
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Comments: There are limits on what parties can spend and, in fact, they are required to file with the Electoral Commission audited accounts annually. However, this is the most abused provision of the electoral and political laws of Uganda. No party respects this provision, especially the ruling party.
References: Cap. 140, Electoral Commission Act, S. 18, and Political Parties and Other Organizations Act.
Peer Review Comments: Yes, there are limits on the total expenditure of political parties. One of the requirements by the electoral commission is for parties to submit cash books and audited accounts, although most political parties have not subscribed to this requirement.
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20e:
In law, there are requirements for disclosure of donations to political candidates and parties.
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| Score: |
YES |
NO |
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Comments:
References: Political Parties and Other Organizations Act, S. 20.
Peer Review Comments: Yes, to show transparency and also for security reasons.This dispels fears of a case in which a country may sponsor a certain political party to bring down the ruling government.
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20f:
In law, there are requirements for the independent auditing of the finances of political parties and candidates.
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| Score: |
YES |
NO |
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Comments:
References: Electoral Commisiion Act, S. 21, and Political Parties and Other Organizations Act, S. 20.
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20g:
In law, there is an agency or entity that monitors the political financing process.
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| Score: |
YES |
NO |
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Comments:
References: Electoral Commission Act, S. 4, and Political Parties and Other Organizations Act.
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| 21 |
Are the regulations governing political financing effective? |
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21a:
In practice, the limits on individual donations to candidates and political parties are effective in regulating an individual's ability to financially support a candidate or political party.
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| Score: |
100 |
75 |
50 |
25 |
0 |
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Comments: Regulating finanical support to parties and candidates is not effectively done by independent bodies and is not seen as influencing candidates or parties in anyway. But, clearly, the amount of money available to a candidate does often determine electoral outcome, particularly in the rural areas where "the politics of sugar and salt" (giving out salt, sugar or other items as inducements to locals) remains very much in practice.
References: Intervieweees are granted anonymity. Interviews - 22-25/08/07. Kampala.
Peer Review Comments: The more financial support a candidate or political party has, the greater the ability to influence election results, especially in rural areas, where voters are bribed with salt, sugar, soap or U Sh 200 each. Some are given mattresses, blankets and other provisions to vote for other candidates, while others are bribed to pretend that they cannot read and write, so that the bribers can vote for them.
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21b:
In practice, the limits on corporate donations to candidates and political parties are effective in regulating a company's ability to financially support a candidate or political party.
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| Score: |
100 |
75 |
50 |
25 |
0 |
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Comments: Corporate donations are limited by internal interests of the company or their sense of attachment to the political party or candidate rather than existing laws. In most cases, candidates have had to run their elections campaigns on the coffers of corporate bodies.
References: Interviewee granted anonymity. Interviewes - 22-25/08/07.
Peer Review Comments: Corporate donations to candidates and political parties are done undercover. Some companies fear disclosing their support to opposition political parties, such as FDC, as the government can take away their licenses.
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21c:
In practice, the limits on total party expenditures are effective in regulating a political party's ability to fund campaigns or politically-related activities.
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| Score: |
100 |
75 |
50 |
25 |
0 |
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Comments: Political parties are not in any way regulated by funding regulations. In any case, auditing these parties is not as strict as it should be; as such, they are not limited by these laws.
References: Inteviewee ganted anonymity. Interview - 22-25/08/07.
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21d:
In practice, when necessary, an agency or entity monitoring political financing independently initiates investigations.
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| Score: |
100 |
75 |
50 |
25 |
0 |
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Comments: There has never been an investigation by the Electoral Commission. This can be partly explained by the fact that even the ruling party does not honor the provisions of the laws regarding financing.
References: Inteviewee granted anonymity. Interview - 22-25/08/07.
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21e:
In practice, when necessary, an agency or entity monitoring political financing imposes penalties on offenders.
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| Score: |
100 |
75 |
50 |
25 |
0 |
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Comments: The president declared $21 billion but it was commonly known (and he publicly said) that he spent over $50 billion. He and his party have never been penalized.
References: Interviewees granted anonymity. Interviews - 22-24/08/07.
Peer Review Comments: The agency does not impose penalties on offenders, as they are mostly from the ruling National Resistance Movement party. Also, the agency itself is controlled by the president of Uganda, who is the chairman of the party, implying that the agency cannot make decisions on its own to penalize offenders.
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21f:
In practice, contributions to political parties and candidates are audited.
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| Score: |
100 |
75 |
50 |
25 |
0 |
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Comments: The law stipulates the submission of audited accounts but it does not talk of who should do the auditing. This is the responsibility of the parties and the candidates.
References: Interviewees granted anonymity. Interviews - 22-24/08/07.
Peer Review Comments: Auditing is done, but financial contributions are not included in details and the law is not specific about who should do the auditing. Contributions are not well tracked because the auditing is left in the hands of parties and candidates.
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| 22 |
Can citizens access records related to political financing? |
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22a:
In practice, political parties and candidates disclose data relating to financial support and expenditures within a reasonable time period.
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| Score: |
100 |
75 |
50 |
25 |
0 |
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Comments: Since this is not taken to be funds, the pressure and attention are not there for them to disclose this information.
References: Interviewees granted anonymity. Interviews - 22-24/08/07.
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22b:
In practice, citizens can access the financial records of political parties and candidates within a reasonable time period.
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| Score: |
100 |
75 |
50 |
25 |
0 |
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Comments: These are taken as top secrets and cannot be accessed even by some party officials.
References: Interviewees granted anonymity. Interviews - 22-24/08/07.
Peer Review Comments: Financial records of political parties are considered to have sensitive information and therefore cannot easily be accessed by citizens who are party members, apart from the top officials
Peer Review Comments: The ruling party displays an attitude that so long as its chief wins, everything else is irrelevant, including good governance practices, such as keeping and disclosing financial records.
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22c:
In practice, citizens can access the financial records of political parties and candidates at a reasonable cost.
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| Score: |
100 |
75 |
50 |
25 |
0 |
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Comments: But the law does not provide for it, nor are the parties ready to disclose such information.
References: Interviewees are granted anonymity. Interviews - 22-24/08/07.
Peer Review Comments: Parties try to hike the costs of accessing financial records, making it difficult for some to gain access. Also, journalists and nongovernmental organization officials are prevented from accessing financial records on the grounds that they hold sensitive information that should not be revealed to the public through reporting.
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