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2009 Assessment

Uganda: Integrity Indicators Scorecard

Uganda: Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: Election Integrity
Indicators		Score
17	In law, is there an election monitoring agency or set of election monitoring agencies/entities?	100
18	Is the election monitoring agency effective?	40
19	Are elections systems transparent and effective?	54

Indicator and sub-Indicator Details

In law, is there an election monitoring agency or set of election monitoring agencies/entities?

17: In law, is there an election monitoring agency or set of election monitoring agencies/entities?

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: Article 61 of the constitution (h) gives powers to the Electoral Commission to organize, conduct and supervise elections and referendum in accordance to the constitution.

Article 16 of the Electoral Commissions Act gives powers to the commission to accredit observers to monitor elections on its behalf, a role it has always contracted out to other entities

Peer Review Comments: In addition, Civil Society Organizations in Uganda have formed a Uganda Government Monitoring Platform (UGMP) that monitors the election process.

Is the election monitoring agency effective?

18a: In law, the agency or set of agencies/entities is protected from political interference.

Score:

YES

Comments: While the law attempts to shield the agency from political interference, the nature of appointments to key positions in the commission makes it vulnerable to political interference, particularly from the president and the ruling National Resistance Movement Organization because it the president who is the chairperson and commissioners. Therefore is the only one who can remove individuals.

The provision for parliamentary approval is only a paper tiger, as the Parliament is more of a rubber stamp than a body that can objectively check the powers of the president.

References: Section 13, Electoral Commission Act, 1997

Article 62 of the 1995 Constitution of Uganda states:

(1) The Electoral Commission is an independent body consisting of a chairperson and six other members appointed by the President with the approval of Parliament.

Peer Review Comments: But there are loop holes in the election system.

18b: In practice, agency (or set of agencies/entities) appointments are made that support the independence of the agency.

Score:

100

Comments: According to the survey, about six out of 10 Ugandans believe that the current EC headed by former Makerere Faculty of Technology Dean, Eng. Badru Kiggundu, has not managed past elections well, 56 percent said the EC was not independent and of those, 63 percent cited government interference in the electoral system. Meanwhile 16 percent cited rigging of elections and the fact that the EC is appointed by the ruling party, while a further 11 percent said the body is influenced by the president in power.

References: Article 60 (1) of the Constitution of Uganda. The Electoral Commission is an independent body consisting of a chairperson and six other members appointed by the President with the approval of Parliament.

Media Reports June 2008-May 2009 (Daily Monitor Dec. 11, 2008) Poll: 56 percent Ugandans doubt Electoral Commission independence

Survey conducted by Steadman Group on behalf of the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative as part of celebrations to mark the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) and the Human Rights Day (Dec. 11, 2008).

Peer Review Comments: The ruling party makes the choice and this comes with the party's bias.

Peer Review Comments: The agency appointment may be belong to the ruling party but they can exercise their legal independence. In practice, the Ugandan Electoral Commission practices a certain degree of independence. Much as they are appointed by the president, some of the Members of Parliament who belong to the ruling party have lost elections.

18c: In practice, the agency or set of agencies/entities has a professional, full-time staff.

Score:

100

Comments: The Electoral Commission relies mainly on temporary staff to conduct voter registration, supervise elections at polling stations. These, however ,are easily compromised in their objectivity in their work.

References: Interview with official from the electoral commission, August 14, 2009

Peer Review Comments: The electoral commission still need some professionalizing in terms of staff and technology.

Peer Review Comments: Yes, because the Electoral Commission is a permanent agency that has full-time employees.

18d: In practice, the agency or set of agencies/entities makes timely, publicly available reports following an election cycle.

Score:

100

Comments: The law requires that election results are declared within 24 hrs, but the commission sometimes fails to do so, because it does not have all the required logistical needs.

Even delivering the statutory reports to Parliament, such as general election reports, is sometimes delayed due to logistical challenges. Making them public through the website takes a very long time, thus making them inaccessible.

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

18e: In practice, when necessary, the agency or set of agencies/entities imposes penalties on offenders.

Score:

100

Comments: The Electoral Commission has had no record of imposing penalities particularly when the offenders are "political heavyweights".

For example, the law provides for penalties for for those political parties who fail to comply with provisions of the Political Parties and Organizations Act, 2005, on declaration of assets and liabilities as well as submission of audited accounts on an annual basis. But to date, the NRM party has failed to comply and no penalty has been applied despite the breach of the law.

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

Peer Review Comments: Ruling party candidates are mostly favoured and even get away with election violence

Are elections systems transparent and effective?

19a: In practice, there is a clear and transparent system of voter registration.

Score:

100

Comments: Voter registration is a continous process and is done on a voluntary basis especially by those who qualify to vote.

The challenge is that people take a long time to check their status and wait for a few days until the election day, which makes it hard for the electoral commission to conduct effective cross-checking of registered voters due to the huge volume of people. It also explains why some people end up missing out on the voting register due to late registration and/or checking with the registers to establish their status.

References: Interview with official from the electoral commission, Aug. 14, 2009

Peer Review Comments: People are turned away when they vote and it is often noted that there are names missing from the registry. Even underage school children normally appear on voting day.

Peer Review Comments: Registration of voters should be computerized in order to fight the menace of "ghost voters."

19b: In law, election results can be contested through the judicial system.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: Section 60 (1) of the Parliamentary Elections Act, 2005 states that election petitions shall be filled with the high court, (3), every election petition shall be filled within 30 days after which the result of the election is published by the commission in the gazette.

Article 104 of the constitution; challenging a presidential election (1) subject to the provisions of this article, any aggrieved candidate may petition the supreme court for an order that a candidate, declared by the electoral commission, elected as president was not validly elected.

Peer Review Comments: Since the elections were reintroduced in Uganda, presidential elections have been contested in the courts of law. Elections were contested in 1996, by the Democratic Party (DP); in 2001, by the Reform Agenda contested; and, in 2006, by the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC).

Peer Review Comments: There were several lawsuits, some just resolved, from 2006. In fact, some election results were nullified by the courts.

19c: In practice, election results can be effectively appealed through the judicial system.

Score:

100

Comments: Several petitions have been filled in courts of law with some anullments at parliamentary and local government levels. The most recent being nullifications of elections earlier held for a female member of Parliament for Isingiro and Member of Parliament for Bujumba, Kalangala District that led to by-elections that were held on Jan. 7, 2009.

In other instances, electoral petitions have taken too long to be disposed off, raising questions about the effectiveness of the judiciary. Cited in this regard, the appeal lodged by Betty Namboze, challenging the election of Hon. Bakaluba Mukasa filled in 2006 but up to now has not been disposed off, as well as the case involving Hon. Salamu Musumba for the Kamuli LC V by-elections.

Effectiveness at the presidential level is still questionable, especially following the failure for elections to be nullified in 2001 and 2006, despite a supreme court ruling that both elections were marred by electoral malpractices.

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

Peer Review Comments: I would like to make a clarification that the elections held earlier for a female member of Parliament for the Isingiro district were not nullified, but repeated after Vicky Kyaka died in a motor accident. When the elections were repeated, the incumbent, Grace Byaruhanga, emerged as the winner and now she is the current female member of Parliament for the Isingiro district.

Peer Review Comments: The opposition is not often favored in the judicial system and this causes delayed justice, as well as uncertainty.

19d: In practice, the military and security forces remain neutral during elections.

Score:

100

Comments: In the 2006 elections, the milliatry was heavily criticized for its involvement in elections. In the recently concluded elections for the Kyadondo MP seat held in May 2008, the media reported the involvement of the Internal Security Organisation (ISO) rigging elections for the ruling party.

References: The weekly Observer, Dec. 17, 2008 The Daily Monitor, July 16, 2006

Peer Review Comments: There have been gun battles and cases of voter intimidation by the military and security forces during elections.

19e: In law, domestic and international election observers are allowed to monitor elections.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: Section 16 of the Electoral Commission Act 1997 details the powers of the commission to accredit observers who can be national or international.

19f: In practice, election observers are able to effectively monitor elections.

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: Election observers have unfettered access to polling sites, counting stations, and voters themselves. The government does not interfere with the observers\' activities. <p>50 Score Criteria: Election observers generally have access to polling sites, counting stations, and voters but encounter restrictions in certain areas. The government may impose burdensome regulatory or bureaucratic requirements on observers to discourage their involvement. <p>0 Score Criteria: Election observers\' movements are significantly limited by the government and many polling and counting sites are restricted or barred from observers. The government imposes so many bureaucratic or regulatory burdens on the observers that their mission is rendered ineffective.$

Comments: International observers only witness events on the polling day and most malpractices tend to happen before the polling day. Even with this, most international observers tend to concentrate only in urban areas

References: Interview with official from the electoral commission, Aug. 14, 2009

Peer Review Comments: The election monitoring is not effectively distributed around the country; rural areas fall victim to massive intimidation and vote rigging.