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After a surprisingly peaceful vote, which took place amid fears of terrorist attacks, Yoweri Museveni secured a fourth Presidential term, obtaining 68,38% of the vote according to preliminary results. Museveni’s closest competitor, Kizza Besigye, was second with 26,01%.
The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), of which Museveni is leader, won 279 Parliamentary seats, with the Forum for Democratic Change the closest competitor, achieving 34 seats.
There were 13 954 129 registered voters with a 59,3% voter turnout.
Threats of Protest
With a wave of antigovernment and prodemocratic protests sweeping the Arab world, there were threats, specifically from Besigye, that protestors would take to the streets should the election be fraudulent or rigged in any way. In an effort to prove any fraudulent activity, Besigye embarked on a campaign of conducting his own vote tally using number crunchers within his own party.
Using a sample of 2,3-million voters, Besigye said that he took 1 040 372, which represents 46,95%. Museveni followed, garnering 994 862 votes, representing 44,89% of the vote. Besigye argued that his sample was largely representative of the broader electorate.
No sooner had Besigye’s comments been announced than they were disregarded by a number of NRM officials, of which some questioned the opposition leader’s sanity. They argued that the election results could only be validated by the country’s Supreme Court.
Despite Besigye’s repeated calls for peaceful protests, there had not been any action against the poll outcome at the time of writing.
Current Conditions
With the provisional election results waiting to be ratified by the country’s judiciary, in all likelihood, Museveni will retain the Presidency along with his party’s Parliamentary majority. His attention will now turn to developments on the African continent and the effect these will have on the Ugandan people. Although Museveni will interpret the election result as a mandate to rule, the lesson learnt from Tunisia and Egypt should press Museveni to take popular perception more seriously.
A second major factor that will influence Uganda is the planned drilling for oil later this year. This is likely to increase the county’s standing internationally, as well as on the continent.
Relations with Africa’s newest country, the Republic of South Sudan, remain to be seen as the two countries share the common Nile water source. The resource remains contentious in the region and will be an important dynamic affecting the relations between the two neighbours.
Main sources
Daily Monitor. Fury as Besigye announces own results. (March 2, 2011)
African Elections Database. Elections in Uganda. (March 1, 2011)
AllAfrica.com. Uganda: FDC tally gave Museveni 62% win. (February 26, 2011)
BBC News. Uganda election: Besigye calls for peaceful protests. (February 24, 2011) Polity. Uganda: Pre-election report. (Frebruary 18, 2011)
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