Opposition should focus on reforms

Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) leader Olara Otunnu this week formally quit the Inter-Party Cooperation (IPC) after the loose opposition alliance disagreed on whether to run in an election organised by the current Electoral Commission (EC).

Mr Otunnu and the UPC wanted to have deep and meaningful reforms before running in the election while the other opposition parties in the IPC preferred to test the integrity of the process by fielding a joint candidate.

The IPC subsequently picked FDC’s Kizza Besigye to run as its joint candidate in next year’s election.

The need for a free and fair election cannot be gainsaid. It has been the subject of intense debate and discussion in Parliament and in public. The Supreme Court has addressed itself to the matter in the last two election petitions before it, diagnosed the infection and prescribed medicine.

The key question is how to create an environment and institutions to conduct credible elections that reflect the will of the people.

Boycotts in which incumbents are left to run against themselves or insignificant others, can embarrass and expose the failings of an electoral system but they do not force the reforms that are required.

Participating in elections and trying to plug the loopholes, on the other hand, reduces the space available for malpractices and forces the institutions to either work or fail, upon which they have to be replaced. The EC bungled the last two elections and the reappointment of the current team in its entirety was ill advised.

Rather than try to force the EC out of office, the opposition should invest time and resources in examining the voter registers and deploying its agents throughout the process, from polling station to central tally centre, to ensure that the result reflects the will of the people.

This is a non-partisan duty. The ruling NRM, having seen the madness and mayhem that engulfed its primaries this week, should now have as much interest in cleaning up the system as the opposition.

The post-election violence in Kenya showed us the price of failure to hold credible elections and is a constant reminder of what consequences could befall us. We can’t wish that violence away but we can do something to try and prevent it.