Former Tanzanian President Ali Hassan Mwinyi will lead the East African Community Election Observer Mission team to monitor the general election in Uganda scheduled for February 18.

The 50-member team is due to arrive in Kampala on Tuesday February 9, 2016, to observe the overall electoral environment, pre-election activities, the polling day, the counting and tallying of results

The EAC Observer Mission is a response to the invitation of the Uganda Electoral Commission as well as the decision of the EAC Council of Ministers on observation of elections in the Partner States.

The Mission is preceded by a Pre-Elections Assessment Team  which was deployed from January 31, 2016 to assess the level of preparedness by key stakeholders and prepare a report that will inform the Mwinyi-led Short Term Election Observation Mission.

The members of the EAC Election Observer Mission have been drawn from different but complementary disciplines and includes, members of the East African Legislative Assembly, delegates from four Partner States (Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi), EAC Youth Ambassadors, Mission Leader, Mission Coordinator , One EAC Executive Staff and  technical officers from the Secretariat as well as  EALA.

The exclusion of members from the Republic of Uganda is consistent with the adopted practice on the Principles of Election Observation and Evaluation which precludes nationals of the host country from participating as election observation in their own countries.

The Mission is expected to prepare a report that will be submitted to, among others, the Electoral Commission of Uganda, through the EAC Council of Ministers for consideration and implementation. The Mission will depart Uganda on February 21, 2016.

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The Inspector General of Police has today met European Union ambassadors to clarify and address concerns raised in the last few weeks by some international observers.

Last week EU Ambassador Kristian Shmidt asked Gen Kale Kayihura to clarify on allegations that the police would not accept any handover of power to the opposition.

But according to a police statement signed today by police spokesperson Fred Enanga, the IGP denied the inflammatory phrase attributed to him by some media houses and assured the ambassadors of the absolute impartiality of police of the Uganda Police Force in the upcoming elections.

“We shall guarantee peaceful, secure ,free and fair elections,” the IGP said adding: ‘’All parties should be rest assured that Uganda Police Force is committed to act  in a non-partisan way in order to ensure equal  rights of all candidates and especially, of the people of Uganda.”

The IGP acknowledged that in isolated incidents during the electoral campaigns, especially involving supporters of the opposition, the police could have acted inappropriately in the use of force. In such areas, the police boss confirmed that investigations were carried out and appropriate disciplinary action was taken including removing responsible officers from their positions of appointment. He emphasized, however, that unnecessary use of force was localized and not sanctioned by him or the police high command.

Last week, while passing out crime preventers in Kapchorwa district in Eastern Uganda, Kayihura was quoted to have promised to arm them with guns and also that the government will not hand over power to the opposition. But police denied the assertions, saying that the IGP had been misquoted by the media.

The IGP, who went with two opposition-leaning youth leaders for the meeting, said they had pioneered the crime prevention programme while students at Makerere University, at that the two had acknowledged that the communities appreciated the role of crime preventers.

However, there are some voices of dissent, with Kyambogo University students raising concern last year in October, with claims that the stick-wielding men under the crime preventers unit attacked and beat them during a university protest against  poor hygiene, inadequate seats, and delays in releasing results, and delayed remuneration of faculty and internship allowances.

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The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) has urged the Ministry of Internal Affairs to speed up the issuance of National Identity cards, in order for all voters to participate in the elections.

Addressing the press at the NRM headquarters at Plot 10 Kyadondo Road, Mike Sebalu, the head of the NRM media taskforce noted that many people  may miss out on voting because they lack IDs.

“National IDs should be made accessible to the people by at least re-distributing them to nearer centers, convenient for our people to pick them,” he said, adding that the IDs are now being given out at district level only,

Lately, there have been reports that many people have not yet received their national IDs yet elections are just 16 days  away.
Sebalu also cautioned the Electoral Commission on the new technology to be used in the elections saying that although the biometrics depict a more transparent process, it should be checked early for irregularities and be sorted out.

“We don’t want delays on the election day, the handlers and officers should be highly trained,” Mr Sebalu said adding: “Early testing and quality assurance of these biometrics can save us any eventualities in limitations associated with the new technology.”

The NRM Campaign Taskforce chairperson further cautioned politicians who use social media to tarnish their competitors and to incite the public into violence to stop doing it.

“We appeal to all political players and actors to maintain a peaceful electoral process,” stressed Sebalu.

In another development, the NRM Taskforce has revealed that they are well placed in these elections because they have unopposed candidates all over the country;  14 unopposed MPs and 16 LC5 candidates.

“That shows that we have different support from all regions of the country,” he noted.

Sebalu also said candidate Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, the NRM presidential flag bearer, who is currently campaigning in Buganda region, had traversed 237 constituencies in the country.

Sebalu, who is also a East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) Member of Parliament, said the president will have to revisit major towns in all sub regions in the country before concluding his campaigns with a final rally at Kololo airstrip on February 16.

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The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) has announced that peacekeepers will be on the offensive against Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels whose fighters committed atrocities in the east of the country.

Speaking in Bangui , MUNISCA spokesperson, Colonel Adolphe Manirakiza said the UN mission’s original undertaking is not to fight LRA rebels but this is set to change since they have been attacking civilian populations in both Central Africa Republic and Congo.

He said MINUSCA are being prompted to defend civilians against those plundering, raping, burning their houses and taking them hostage.

MINUSCA has thus redeployed its personnel in the main cities of CAR’s prefectures of Haut Mboumou in the far east, Mbomou in the east and Haute Kotto in the north-east.

To properly expedite the mission, its 12,000-strong force in CAR must be strengthened by the arrival of other contingents after the departure of DRC soldiers. Reports say that Mauritanian and Egyptian contingents will fill the gap

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