5^th-11^th July 2010

By Our Staff Writer

The Uganda Civil Alliance Network [UCAN], a South African based Ugandan civil society organisation, has taken its fight to clean up Uganda’s electoral register in the run up to the 2011 elections to US President Barack Obama and the European Union [EU] President.

In a letter dated May 27^th 2010 signed by its Chairman Mr. Henry Muhwezi, UCAN petitioned the two world leaders arguing that a flawed national voter registration exercise is a “precursor to a fraudulent 2011 election”.  UCAN justifies its move to petition the US government on the strength of the fact that US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton confirmed in her first report to the US Congress that there were indeed serious issues of confidence with the way Uganda’s Electoral Commission has managed the national voter register.

UCAN’s effort to improve what it calls a “…the perpetually flawed electoral process in Uganda” goes back to 2008 when it offered to supply, free of charge, an internationally acceptable Biometric Electoral System [BES] to the Uganda government.  Needless to say, the offer was ignored and or rejected. According to UCAN, it has now emerged that other international institutions and governments also made offers but they were equally ignored. UCAN alleges in its letter that “…the contract between the government and the company that is engaged in the current farce was signed in the middle of the night”.  No evidence was supplied to Uganda Correspondent to support that claim.

In its petition letter, UCAN further alleges that the NRM government has been registering ‘members’ using the same German company which is carrying out the national exercise contrary to the constitution of the Republic of Uganda. It says it is alarmed by the fact that the government of Uganda is openly hoodwinking Ugandans and the international community into believing in this sham exercise. “This shameless and nefarious act has put into jeopardy the whole registration process as it is now widely believed the EC intends to use the NRM ‘members’ register as the official national voter’s roll. The 3.5 million new voters will simply be added to this register as a top-up to make the final voters’ roll”; UCAN charges.

According to sources within the Inter-Party Cooperation [IPC], a loose alliance of Ugandan opposition parties, the voter update exercise “…will only produce a voter register that can be manipulated for purposes of rigging the 2011 elections”. UCAN says it is very concerned about what “…this shameless charade is costing Uganda”.

It has been widely reported that approximately $126m has already been spent on Uganda’s voter registration exercise and the amount, according to the same reports, is likely to rise even further.  In its concluding remarks, UCAN asks President Obama as well as the EU President to use their “…influence and machinery to help Ugandans whose right to vote freely has been abused repeatedly by the NRM government. It argues that the intervention of these world leaders “…will go a long way in avoiding what happened in Zimbabwe and Kenya”.

Highlights of UCAN’s Petition to Obama and EU President:

• Investigate any semblance of a corrupt relationship between the NRM government and the German company.
• Interrogate the real intentions behind the parallel registration of NRM members and other voters in contravention of the constitution.
• Press for the disbanding of the EC as it is currently constituted and the formulation of a new one that is acceptable by all role players.
• Impose immediate targeted sanctions on such individuals and entities that have breached the electoral laws of Uganda.