A poll by Research World International (RWI) in respect to the presidential elections of February 18 has indicated that 62 per cent of the graduates in the country want a change of president, while 32 per cent of their counterparts want the status quo maintained.
In the same poll 71 per cent of the elders above 65 years want the National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate Yoweri Museveni to continue in his position, while 20 per cent of their age-mates want a change in presidency.
The results of the survey carried out a month after the November 4-5presidential nominations that involved collation of data from 2685 people from different parts of the country were released today at Protea Hotel by RWI Lead Researcher, Dr Patrick Wakida.
According to the poll, 50 per cent of interviewees said Mr Museveni had done his job to satisfaction and that he was leading, ahead of Dr Warren Kizza Besigye, the flag bearer of the Forum for Democratic Change and John Patrick Amama Mbabazi of Go Forward. Also, 32 per cent of the respondents say there should be no change of the president.
However, 56 per cent of the respondents said Museveni cannot hand over power peacefully if defeated, while, interestingly, the poll indicates that 77 per cent of the registered voters will not vote because they think the elections will not be free and fair.
Dr Wakida’s poll results come just a day after The New Vision released results of a poll that put NRM candidate Museveni in the lead with 73 per cent, another opinion poll by the Daily Monitor in December 2015 also indicated Museveni was the leading contender, with about 69 per cent.
Reacting to the poll, NRM Spokesperson Ofwono Opondo said that according to internal research, the party established that it Museveni would win by 73 per cent.
“By the mere fact that a section of the public is asking for continuity (No change), it is a vote of confidence that that person who ushered in peace and stability is president Museveni,” Opondo said at the launch of the poll results today.
In a related development the report indicates that the major fears of Ugandans as they head to the Feb 18 polls are political instability, vote rigging and intimidation by security forces.
