VZCZCXRO1468
RR RUEHGI RUEHRN RUEHROV
DE RUEHKM #0069/01 0421427
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 111427Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY KAMPALA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0220
INFO IGAD COLLECTIVE
RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KAMPALA 000069 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL KDEM UG
SUBJECT: UGANDA: REPORT ON PREPARATIONS FOR THE 2011 ELECTIONS 
 
REF: 10 KAMPALA 47; 10 KAMPALA 55; 10 KAMPALA 67; 09 KAMPALA 00979 
09 KAMPALA 01278; 09 KAMPALA 01349; 09 KAMPALA 01407; 10 KAMPALA 41 
09 KAMPALA 00946; 09 KAMPALA 01411 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: This cable responds to the Congressional 
requirement to monitor preparations for Uganda's 2011 elections and 
actively promote the independence of the Electoral Commission, an 
accurate and verifiable voter registry, the announcement and 
posting of results at polling stations, freedom of movement and 
assembly, press freedoms, and the security and protection of 
presidential candidates.  The mandate requires a report to the 
Committee on Appropriations detailing actions taken by the Ugandan 
government to address these concerns within 90 days of passage of 
the legislation and every 120 days thereafter until 30 days after 
the February 2011 election.  This report covers events from January 
1 to February 10.  The Ugandan government maintains that the 
Electoral Commission is non-partisan in accordance with the Ugandan 
Constitution.  A parliamentary by-election on January 25 in central 
Uganda further underscored concerns about the voter registry and 
tabulation of polling station results.  Police and government 
officials limited opposition parties' freedom of movement and 
assembly, and arrested opposition activists.  The government also 
limited press freedoms by intimidating, arresting, and charging 
journalists with media-related offenses.  We continue to raise 
these concerns with the Ugandan government (refs. A and B), the 
Electoral Commission (ref. C), and donor partners.  End Summary. 
 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
Independence of the Electoral Commission 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) Questions of independence and organization have weakened 
the Electoral Commission's (EC) credibility and effectiveness. 
Article 60(1) of the Ugandan Constitution invests the President 
with the power to appoint the Commission's seven Commissioners, 
pending Parliamentary approval.  Article 62 states that the 
Commission "shall be independent and shall, in the performance of 
its functions, not be subject to the direction or control of any 
person or authority."  President Museveni re-appointed six of the 
EC's seven Commissioners to new seven year terms in August 2009. 
Museveni replaced the EC's one retiring Commissioner with a 
previously unknown rural schoolteacher.  In a hastily arranged 
hearing on August 12, parliamentarians ratified Museveni's 
appointments.  Opposition leaders complained that the ruling 
National Resistance Movement (NRM), which controls more than 
two-thirds of Parliament, withheld information on the appointments 
until the last moment to deliberately frustrate the opposition's 
ability to review Commissioners' qualifications (ref. D). 
 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) Opposition parties belonging to the Inter-Party 
Cooperation (IPC) coalition have expressed no confidence in the 
Commission, based in large part on the Commission's management of 
the flawed 2006 elections, and are demanding new Commissioners. 
However, in accordance with the Constitution, only the President 
can replace Commission members.  In 2009, opposition parties 
initiated two court cases challenging the competency and 
qualifications of the Commissioners and the Commission's Secretary. 
Both cases are pending.  The EC's opaque budget (ref. E), botched 
procurements (ref. F), and unclear priorities have further 
undermined its credibility.  In a meeting on February 8, the 
Commission was unable to respond to U.S. Mission requests for an 
updated budget, a time line for revising the voter registry, a time 
line for the polling re-organization exercise now underway, or a 
revised roadmap for the 2011 election cycle. 
 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----------------- 
 
Transparency of Voter Registry and Polling Results 
 
KAMPALA 00000069  002 OF 004 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----------------- 
 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) The January 25 by-election in Budiope sub-county to 
replace a recently deceased Member of Parliament highlighted 
concerns with the Electoral Commission's management of the voter 
registry and the tabulation of results at polling stations.  Voter 
registries sold by the Commission to the opposition Forum for 
Democratic Change (FDC) party on January 21 differed from the 
official registries delivered to Budiope poll workers on election 
day.  Citing a discrepancy of approximately 2,800 names, the FDC 
accused the Electoral Commission of deliberately deleting FDC 
supporters from the registry.  However, the last minute deletions 
appeared to be a function of the Electoral Commission's own 
disorganization and not an attempt to disenfranchise specific 
voters or parties.  On Februrary 9, the FDC called on the Electoral 
Commission to post the voter registry on line to ensure equal and 
transparent access for all stakeholders. 
 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Ugandan Constitution and 2005 Parliamentary Elections 
Act require presiding officers at polling stations to "announce" 
results at polling stations before assembled poll workers, 
political party agents, and observers.  Presiding officers are not 
required to post results.  There were no reports of failures to 
announce results at polling stations in Budiope.  The Electoral 
Commission voided results from one polling station due to fraud and 
ballot stuffing.  Three individuals were arrested, charged with 
electoral malpractice, and released on bail.  The official 
participation rate in Budiope was 51% - which is high for a 
relatively low profile by-election.  Remarkably, almost 20% of 
polling stations in Budiope reported participation rates of 88% or 
higher, with several stations reporting participation rates of 99 
to 100%.  Observers received reports of collusion between some poll 
workers and party agents, and recorded one attempt to bribe a local 
observer.  Seemingly inflated participation rates, coupled with 
scattered reports of electoral malfeasance, suggest fraud.  Since 
the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate in Budiope 
won with 75% of votes cast, these irregularities likely did not 
affect the overall outcome but would have impacted a closer and 
more contested election. 
 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
Freedom of Movement and Assembly 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) Authorities continued to limit opposition parties' and 
leaders' freedom of assembly and movement.  Police and government 
officials used provisions of the Police Act, which require 
opposition parties to inform the Inspector General of the Police of 
any assembly involving 25 persons or more (and were previously 
declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court), to disrupt 
opposition events and rallies.  On December 31, the IPC informed 
the Inspector General of Police it would conduct a "series of civil 
action activities" from January 4 onward to protest government 
repression of the media, the composition of the Electoral 
Commission, and government closure of the Buganda Kingdom's Central 
Broadcasting Station (CBS) radio station.  The IPC informed police 
that these activities, including a march through Kampala to 
Parliament, "shall be peaceful and within the confines of the law." 
On January 3, police deployed heavily throughout Kampala, and on 
January 4 police in riot gear temporarily prevented opposition 
leaders from entering IPC offices.  The Inspector General of Police 
said opposition parties failed to notify police in a timely manner 
and that opposition tactics were intended to cause "confusion" and 
"disorder" in Kampala.  No civil action activities occurred. 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) On January 18, police arrested 35 female IPC members who 
attempted to enter the heavily guarded Electoral Commission one by 
one to demand the Electoral Commission Chairman's resignation.  The 
women wore black t-shirts proclaiming "Women for Peace" and sat in 
front of the Commission after they were denied entry.  Several of 
the women accused the police of mistreatment during their arrest 
and subsequent imprisonment, claiming that police used excessive 
force, forced some women to undress, and placed some in police 
holding cells with men overnight.  Authorities charged the women 
 
KAMPALA 00000069  003 OF 004 
 
 
with illegal assembly, trespass, and belonging to an unlawful 
society. They were released on bail on January 19 and instructed to 
return to court on March 3. 
 
 
 
¶8. (SBU) According to local media reports, police in Masindi 
disrupted a rally for FDC President Kizza Besigye on January 25. 
On January 27, police arrested Josephine Babirye, a member of the 
opposition Uganda People's Congress (UPC) party, for holding up 
placards in front of the UPC headquarters.  Angered by the NRM's 
January 26 celebration of "Liberation Day", Babirye displayed 
posters belittling Liberation Day and the NRM.  Babirya told local 
press she was prompted to act after watching NRM Liberation Day 
festivities on television. The government charged Babirya with 
sedition on January 28 and released her on bail. Babirya's case 
will be heard on February 12. 
 
 
 
¶9. (SBU) Authorities impeded the movements of opposition leaders. 
On January 28, police in Kagadi near Lake Albert prevented UPC 
presidential aspirant Olara Otunnu from visiting a local hospital 
and other locations.  Police claimed Otunnu failed to inform 
authorities of his itinerary in a timely manner.  Otunnu accused 
police of blocking his movements to prevent him from highlighting 
the poor quality of Kagadi's public hospital.  In January, 
administrative and legal delays forced FDC president Kizza Besigye 
to postpone travel to the U.S. pending the return of his passport, 
which was confiscated by authorities in 2005 following Besigye's 
indictment on treason and rape charges.  Uganda's High Court 
dismissed the rape allegations in March 2006.  Besigye's lawyer 
petitioned the Constitutional Court to dismiss the still pending 
treason charge on February 1, 2010. 
 
 
 
¶10. (SBU) Besigye and others whose passports have been confiscated 
due to pending cases of sedition, treason or other charges must 
apply for the return of their travel documents before traveling 
abroad (ref. G).  The invasive application process restricts 
freedom of movement, limits privacy, and frequently forces 
applicants to delay or cancel scheduled international travel. 
 
 
 
-------------------- 
 
Press Freedoms 
 
-------------------- 
 
 
 
¶11. (SBU) Freedom of the media continued to deteriorate. On January 
6, the Ugandan Human Rights Network for Journalists (HRNJ) declared 
2009 "the worst year" for Ugandan journalists since press 
restrictions were lifted in the early 1990s. According to HRNJ, 18 
journalists were fired in 2009 due to government pressure and more 
than 80 were deprived of their rights.  In January, police 
repeatedly questioned two Daily Monitor journalists - Angelo Izama 
and Henry Ochieng - for a December 20 article reporting on the 
NRM's civilian paramilitary training program, known locally as 
"mchaka-mchaka" (ref. H).  On February 3, authorities charged Izama 
and Ochieng with criminal libel for a December 19 article, also on 
the mchaka-mchaka, which briefly compared President Museveni to 
former Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos. 
 
 
 
¶12. (SBU) Another Monitor journalist received threatening telephone 
calls related to a January 3 story on corruption in Uganda's 
nascent oil sector, and the Monitor's Managing Editor Daniel 
Kalinaki noted in a January 21 editorial that "close to 100 
journalists in Uganda today face some form of charge or sanction by 
the government."  On February 8, Kalinaki and Ochieng appeared in 
court to respond to forgery charges stemming from their publication 
of a letter from President Museveni to local leaders in western 
Uganda in August 2009 (ref. I).  The government alleges that 
Kalinaki and Ocheing altered the text of the letter, a charge the 
Monitor journalists have denied.  The court extended their bail and 
adjourned the hearing until March 29. 
 
 
 
¶13. (SBU) On January 18, the Constitutional Court heard a petition 
 
KAMPALA 00000069  004 OF 004 
 
 
filed by journalist Andrew Mwenda challenging Uganda's sedition 
laws, arguing that sedition charges infringe on constitutional 
rights of freedom of expression.  Mwenda has more than 20 counts of 
sedition and other media related offenses pending against him.  A 
decision in Mwenda's challenge to the sedition laws is still 
pending.  Several rural radio stations denied FDC president Besigye 
access to the airwaves, in some cases even after the FDC paid for 
airtime.  On January 30, an FM station in northern Ugandan 
prevented Besigye from appearing on air.  Opposition leaders 
alleged that Besigye was also prevented from appearing on local 
media outlets in Hoima and Kapchorwa.  On February 8, the Electoral 
Commission told the U.S. Mission that there is little the 
Commission can do in this regard as 99% of Uganda's estimated 140 
radio stations are privately owned. 
 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
Security and Protection of Candidates 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
 
 
¶14. (SBU) The 2005 Presidential Elections Act requires the 
Electoral Commission to "ensure that the relevant organs of the 
state provide during the entire campaign period (a) protection of 
each candidate: (b) adequate security at all meetings of 
candidates."  This requirement applies to presidential candidates 
who have been nominated and registered by their parties, a process 
which will occur later this year.  The UPC party filed a complaint 
with police in Gulu following the December 21 auto mishap between 
presidential aspirant Olara Otunnu and the Presidential Guard 
Brigade (ref. J).  According to police in Gulu, an investigation is 
on going. 
 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
U.S. Engagement on Elections in Uganda 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
 
 
¶15. (SBU) The U.S. Mission discusses concerns about the 2011 
elections with the Ugandan government, the Electoral Commission, 
donor partners, opposition parties, and civil society organizations 
on a regular basis.  The U.S. Mission has suggested ways the 
Electoral Commission could increase the transparency of the voter 
registry and voting processes, and is working with donor partners 
to formulate a framework of common indicators or "tripwires" as a 
metric for assessing the electoral process and signaling when or if 
electoral practices deviate from democratic norms.  Mission 
officers joined with European and civil society colleagues to 
observe parliamentary by-elections in Budiope on January 25, and 
will observe a second by-election in Mbale on February 16 as part 
of our effort to monitor Uganda's preparations for the 2011 
elections.  Approximately $2.2 million, or 0.7% of USAID's FY2009 
assistance to Uganda, is dedicated to promoting democracy and good 
governance. 
LANIER