References: Article 103 (1) of the Constitution of Uganda. The election of the president shall be by universal adult suffrage through a secret ballot.

The Presidential Elections Act, 2005 Section 2 (1)

Peer Review Comments: Uganda has a number of electoral anomalies, such as the recently discovered "ghost voters." The treatment given to Ugandans during election does not guarantee adult suffrage.

Peer Review Comments: Yes, universal and equal adult suffrage is guaranteed to all citizens.

References: Article 103 (3), 1995 Constitution of Uganda states:

Election of the President shall be held during the first 30 days of the last 90 days before the expiration of the term of the President, except in the case of the first election under the constitution, an election held under article 104(6) of the constitution, or where an election could not he held as a result of an existence of war or state of emergency, in which case the election shall be held within such period as Parliament may, by law, prescribe.

Peer Review Comments: Whereas there are intervals for holding elections, some elections for special groups, like youth councils and certain categories like local councils, are neglected forever. For example, the current LC1 committees and youth councils have been operating legally since 2006. Hence, there is a discrepancy in the way certain elections are taken, from highest to lowest regard.

A case is in the recent Rubaga LC3 by-elections held on May 21, 2009, where only 9.3 percent of the 170,557 voters on the Uganda Electoral Commission roll of registered voters in Rubaga participated in the polls.

There are no institutional barriers, political or government pressure that prevents citizens from voting.

What instead prevents most people from voting is external, such as voter apathy or voters' own non-registration.

In terms of pressure, there have been instances where opposition political parties have called for mass boycott of elections such as during the 2005 referendum on restoring multi-party democracy. Even in that, it was mainly those persons with a very strong allegiance to the parties calling for the boycott that eventually preferred to stay away from voting.

References: www.bugandapost.com (Peter Sematimba Wins Tainted Elections With 9 percent of Registered Voters), May 24, 2009.

Interview with official of the Electoral Commission who preferred not to be named (July 31, 2009).

To some extent, people are able to vote in secret and while military or party agents are normally present at polling stations, they don't overtly pressurize voters at the polls, although their presence has an intimidation factor in a sense and on a small scale influences the way some people vote. Cases of tampering with ballots are evident for example, The Supreme Court ruling following the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections in 2006 pointed out that there was bribery, vote stuffing, multiple voting and intimidation in different parts of the country as well as disenfranchisement of voters by deleting their names from the register without their (voters') consent. Allegations of Vote rigging have continued even in recent elections such as in the Kyadondo South Bye-elections as well as elections. A recently launched report by Human Rights Watch-Preparing for the Polls: Improving Accountability for Electoral Violence in Uganda, notes that several of the crimes committed during the 2006 elections, were never investigated, culprits not punished and in some instances with officers who committed them continuing to hold high political offices.

References: New Vision, Daily Monitor The weekly Observer, December 10, 2008 (NRM GROUP NAMED IN POLL RIGGING)

Peer Review Comments: There is open balloting and not secret balloting in upcountry districts and the ballots are not protected. For example, some votes are cast the night before elections, while others are cast during the counting period and that is one of the ways in which elections are rigged in Uganda. The police and other security agencies mandated to protect the ballot have reportedly rigged votes and beat up voters.

Peer Review Comments: Reports from previous elections indicate that votes were tampered with.

Peer Review Comments: The disabled are apparently not well catered to. People who vote on their behalf may vote for their own candidates instead.

Peer Review Comments: I would actually give this indicator a 75 score because, in practice,secret ballot boxes and secret voting remains in force, although there are unjustified (in most cases) rumors that ballot boxes are being tampered with.

Mandatory end-of-term office elections such as presidential or parliamentary elections are normally held in time before the constitution deadline.

However in case of the replacement of any leader, such as when a leader dies, the constitution provides specific time periods within which elections must be held.These dates have greatly been adhered to. For example in the replacement for Kyadondo South following the death of the MP Hon. Israel Gibirige Ssebunya.

For LC IV elections, the law allows for six months. However for the rest, such as LC I, III elections, the law is silent and the dates are normally fixed by the electoral commission. It is important to note, however, that the law is silent on LC I and III elections, and therefore it is at the discretion of the electoral commission to set an appropriate date, subject to availability of funding.

References: Interview with official of the Electoral Commission, Aug. 14, 2009

The New Vision, Daily Monitor, The Weekly Observer

www.ec.co.ug

References: Article 29, 1995 Constitution states:

Every person has a right to (a) freedom of assembly and to demonstrate together with others peacefully and unarmed and to petition; (b) freedom of association, which includes the freedom to form and join associations or unions like trade unions or other political and public organizations.

Article 72 (1) of the Constitution of Uganda states:

The people of Uganda have a right to form political parties and other political

Part II, The Political Parties and Organizations Act, 2005. 3 (2) Every citizen of Uganda has a right to form or join a political party or organization of his/her choice.

References: Presidential Elections Act 2005, 4 (1) (Qualifications of Candidates for election as president and 4 (4) qualification as Member of Parliament)

Article 72 (2) of the 1995 Constitution of Uganda states:

Any person has a right to stand for an election as an independent candidate

Peer Review Comments: This is correct, but some political offices require some minimum level of education and sometimes age does matter.

References: Interview with Official from the Electoral Commission, Aug. 14, 2009 www.ec.or.ug

Peer Review Comments: All citizens are able to form political parties so long as they are able to register and conform to common good.

Some have run as independents, where they think party structures have crowded out the right to run for political office such as the recently concluded Ssemabule by-elections. A recent move by the NRM to ban independents from its party is seen by many as a move to deny some people the right and opportunity to run for political official, especially if they feel aggrieved by party structures.

The biggest challenge and key deterrent for people intending to run for political office is the financial cost involved. This cuts across from individuals to political parties.

However, there is a recent move. If passed, it could see political parties funded by the government if the Political Parties and Organizsations Amendment Bill, presented to Parliament in April 2009, is passed.

Though already heavily criticized the bill, if passed, would see political parties funded in respect of elections and their normal day-to-day activities, but the funding would be based on the numerical strength of each political party or organization in Parliament.

References: www.ugpulse.com The New Vision, Daily Monitor, Weekly Observer

The structure of 8th parliament is as follows; NRM (ruling party)- 210 legislators. The rest, excluding independents who are mainly NRM represent the opposition-Forum for Democratic Change (FDC)- 39, Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC)- 9, Democratic Party (DP)- 8, Conservative Party (CP)- 1, JEEMA- 1.

These are, however, few and cannot advance legislation because they are defeated whenever it comes to voting. They have thus always walked out of parliamentary proceedings as a way of protesting.

References: www.ugpulse.com Media Reports (New Vision, Daily Monitor, the Weekly Observer)

Peer Review Comments: There is a high level of competition and the pro-government legislators get better advantages.

Peer Review Comments: In practice, opposition parties are represented in the legislature and the issue of there being few of them in number should not be blamed on any single practice.