Up to 47 percent of Ugandans do not know that presidential
election will be held on February 23, state-owned newspaper The
New Vision reported on Friday.
"Only 53 percent of Ugandans know the presidential election will
be held on February 23, and only 33 percent are aware that
parliamentary election will be held on the same date. Only 11
percent knew local council elections are scheduled for February
28,2006," the newspaper quoted a survey commissioned by the
International Republican Institute (IRI) as saying.
IRI is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing global
democracy, supported by the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID). The survey was carried out by Wilsken Agencies
between January 20 and 24.
"The July 2005 referendum on the multiparty system passed with
the support of 93 percent of voters. Thus, the no-party or Movement
system of government will end after this month's election. However,
nearly a majority, 49 percent, of Ugandans believe the Movement
system will continue to operate after the February 23 elections,"
IRI said.
IRI said the results indicated need for voter education. But the
Electoral Commission (EC) headed by Badru Kiggundu says it is soon
starting an aggressive voter education exercise to cover the
country. The exercise will, among other things, involve road shows
and mobile film shows.
According to the survey, 60 percent of Ugandans have confidence
in the ability by the EC to organize the exercise well. The
respondents also believe there will be few incidents of violence
during the polls. Only 12 percent cited incidents of
intimidation.
"An overwhelming 79 percent of those sampled believe a voter's
card is required for voting when Ugandan election law stipulates
that no voter card is necessary in order to cast a ballot. A
significant majority of 57 percent believe that their photograph
needs to appear on the voters," the survey said.
A total of 1,200 people were contacted in the survey, with
females and males being equally represented. Out of those, 14
percent were from urban areas and 86 percent from rural areas.
The forthcoming elections will be the country's first multiparty
elections since political parties were banned 20 years ago for
allegedly causing sectarianism among Ugandans.
(Xinhua News Agency February 10, 2006)
