To declare or not to declare own results

Mr Ouattarra

Some people have said politics is a game. You can take it or leave it. But if it is, then it must conform to some form of rules. And in a game of civilised people, there’s always an umpire whose decision in a contest should bring the contest to a rest, but most important, the umpire should make his rulings and final decision based on laid down rules.
Based on the above notion, the 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda lays down basic rules for Uganda’s political game. Under Chapter Five (Article 60) an umpire in the name of the Electoral Commission is established, with elaborate safeguards to ensure the impartiality of that umpire. Under Article 68, it is provided (1) At a public election or referendum, voting shall, subject to the provisions of this Constitution, be by secret ballot using one ballot box at each polling station for all candidates in an election and for all sides in a referendum.

(2) Immediately after the close of the poll, the presiding officer shall proceed to count at the polling station, the ballot papers of that station and record the votes cast in favour of each candidate or question.

(4) The presiding officer, the candidates or their representatives and in the case of a referendum, the sides contesting or their agents, if any, shall sign and retain a copy of a declaration stating—

(a) the polling station; (b) the number of votes cast in favour of each candidate or question, and the presiding officer shall there and then, announce the results of the voting at that polling station before communicating them to the returning officer. The returning officer would then transmit the results to EC headquarters where final results would be released under its seal.

EC adamant
However, there now exists a contention as to whether the EC alone can announce results.

One of the key players in the presidential elections, candidate Dr Kizza Besigye of the Inter-Party Cooperation says IPC will announce its own results. Twice, Dr Besigye has been in the contest whose results he has challenged and the Supreme Court indicted the polls as having been held “not in accordance to the law.” Now he promises an own tallying centre and declaration of his own results. This has not gone down well with the ruling National Resistance Movement with President Museveni saying late last year that: “Uganda is not Ivory Coast, It is not Kenya. Don’t expect what is happening or happened in these countries to happen here. Uganda is a country led by people who have fought wars. You can’t play that game here. He may have his computers but the only institution charged with announcing electoral results is the national Electoral Commission.”

“Nobody can announce results here, not even me. That will be a short cut to Luzira [Prison] for any candidate who does that,” President Yoweri Museveni said at news conference in Jinja.

In Kenya and Ivory Coast respectively, there were disagreements over results, different parties announcing their own results, resulting in untold bloodletting. The Kenya scenario was only brought to an end after President Kibaki agreed to a power sharing deal with his rival Raila Odinga who became prime minister.

The two months stand-off in Ivory Coast persists with the incumbent Laurent Gbagbo blockading his rival and internationally recognised winner, Alassane Ouattara. The international community and the Economic Community of West African States regional grouping have recognised Ouattara and asked Gbagbo to step down, which the latter has so far scoffed at.

In such a situation, the freeness and fairness of the poll has to depend on which side of the political divide one is. In such a situation again, the ugly likelihood of a “Kenya” or an “Ivory Coast” becomes real.

NRM campaign spokesman, Mr Ofwono Opondo says, that since the law provides that results are counted and declared at the polling station, the argument with Dr Besigye is simply “much ado about nothing.”

“Besigye will be defeated in the open in the presence of his agents and all voters,” Mr Opondo has said.

Mr Opondo also said nothing was wrong with Dr Besigye collecting his results nationwide and tallying them as a basis of comparison but the EC by law is the one authorised to announce the final result, certified under seal.

Prof Elijah Mushemeza, vice chairman of the NRM electoral commission echoes similar sentiments, insisting that the final declaration should not be by any candidate or party. “Supposing their agents sent wrong results and at the end of the tally they think they have won whereas not. Wouldn’t this cause unnecessary violence when people think their party has been cheated when actually they lost?” Prof. Mushemeza mused.

Article 103(7) provides “The Electoral Commission shall ascertain, publish and declare in writing under its seal, the results of the presidential election within 48 hours from the close of polling.”

But why should this debate arise in Uganda? The answer does not lie very far. In a situation where court has ruled that the current EC is incompetent to conduct a free and fair poll, and the opposition have cried about its partiality and lack of professionalism, it is not farfetched to say the EC does not inspire confidence.

Tainted reputation
Astonishingly, President Museveni who was without success asked to reconstitute the Dr Badru Kiggundu-chaired EC, has also recently said he fears his votes “might be stolen by some EC fellows.”

Here is a situation where the EC engaged Ugandans in a costly registration and voters update exercise, only to tell them voters cards for polling purposes were not an issue as long as the name and photo are on register. The opposition views this willingness to conduct a poll without voters cards as a ploy to disenfranchise its supporters, and aid those of the incumbent in planned rigging.

But the EC’s spokesman Mr Charles Ochola vouches for the commission’s integrity and insists: “The law does not mandatorily require a voter to have a voter’s card and the voters’ register is the most important tool for the exercise.”
Dr Besigye’s own result declaration would then serve one important purpose: to shine the spotlight on the credibility or otherwise of the results. Depending on how things will go, the spectre of confusion and even violence loom large. This scenario has been foreseen by the Police and the Inspector General of the Force has said they have trained thousands of personnel to take care of any eventuality during and after elections.

Army Chief of Defence Forces Maj Gen Aronda Nyakayirima has already promised that the army will be on the alert. The involvement of all these security elements has been viewed by the opposition with suspicion.

The understanding by the opposition is that the two forces: Police and Army, might not do the professional job of protecting the interest of Uganda but that of Mr Museveni, as a person.

The debate surrounding Dr Besigye’s promised results’ announcement should be seen in the context of the impartiality, or lack thereof, of the EC and the strategy by both sides in that scenario.
The prayer to all and sundry is one, we should all put Uganda before self.