UGANDA'S FLAWED ELECTIONS: December 10, 1980; polling day Museveni challenges Kuteesa’s win in court

"The people have expressed their confidence in your party and I look forward to cordial cooperation. The return of the rule of laws by an elected government after years of Idi Amin's tyranny is a forerunner of a new pause in East African Cooperation to which we look forward with great pleasure," the statement said.

Nyerere had not yet withdrawn about 20,000 Tanzanian troops that were in Uganda and was therefore an influential person in the affairs of Uganda.

Four days after the election, Tanzania also sent a six-man delegation on December 14 led by Rashid Kawawa and Foreign Minister Salim Ahmed. The team also included Defence Minister Lt. Gen. Abdalla Twallipo. Salim 'advised' the losing parties to accept the election results and provide real opposition to Obote's government. "In any election, there are bound to be winners and losers. In this case, the winners are the people of Uganda," he said in Dar-es-Salaam on return from Kampala.

Kenya's Daniel Arap Moi also weighed in, congratulating Obote and the UPC.
"It is my earnest hope that your triumph will bring with it political stability and maintenance of law and order in Uganda so that a new climate conducive to meaningful reconstruction and development of your country can now reign," Moi said in a message to Obote. Congratulatory messages also came in from Malawi and India.

Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi said in a message she hoped UPC victory would "usher in an era of stability, peace and prosperity for the people of Uganda."

DP maintains "positive attitude"
The roots of DP's 'positive attitude' stance can be traced to the Dar-es-Salaam meeting with Muwanga over the ballot box saga. It is in this meeting that Muwanga detected that the party could after all compromise on key issues. But the stance was laid bare in the aftermath of the elections.

On December 18, DP chief Semogerere said that because of this stance, DP candidates who had won elections were free to take up their seats in Parliament. Yet, the party was sharply divided on whether the party should concede defeat and take up the seats in the house. Taking up seats, some argued, would legitimise the UPC victory while others felt that it was futile trying to hold back, perhaps signifying deep lying surrender and frustration over the whole election process.

Ssemogerere was at it again on whether DP would accept cabinet posts just in case Dr Obote floated the idea, saying the party would decide on the issue "on its merits."
The Weekly Topic noted that "observers took it to mean that DP does not rule out the possibility of some o its members joining Obote's cabinet.

This 'positive attitude' was maintained even after DP became the opposition in Parliament. During the inaugural session of Parliament,the DP leader seconded UPC's Francis Butagira for the post of Speaker. Prime Minister Otema Alimadi proposed the Mbarara South-West MP, who had resigned his position as High Court judge after the overthrow of Idi Amin.

Ssemogerere seconded him "on behalf of all DP members in the House." Butagira is currently Uganda's Permanent Representative to the United Nations. Dp's positive attitude has since become part of its legacy. Even when Yoweri Museveni captured power after the five-year civil war, DP accepted his invitation to join in his government.

Ssemogerere was a cabinet minister for about 10 years until 1996 when he quit to contest in the Presidential elections. 96 when he quit to contest the 1996 presidential elections.

Museveni files petition challenging Kuteesa election
Smarting from a loss to DP's Sam Kutesa, UPM President Yoweri Museveni filed a petition in the High Court. Museveni wanted the court to declare Kutesa's election null and void, listing 10 grounds alleging a number of irregularities. Among the grounds on which he based the petition, Museveni said that:

* Some voters who registered did not appear on the voter registers on election and were turned away
* The same registers were not displayed for inspection as was supposed to be the case.
* Demarcation of his constituency was made after the constituencies had been gazetted
* A number of cases were recorded where there was multiple voting where Kutesa's supporters used one card to vote more than once.
* In some places, the ballot boxes were not sealed while in others, there were no party symbols on display

Muwanga hands over; Obote pledges "government of law but not of men"
Muwanga's words and actions after the declaration of results hardly show any signs of a guilty man. On December 15 during the swearing in ceremony of Obote as President at Parliament, he hailed the 'heroic struggle of our people in revival of democracy and freedom' during the elections."

At the swering in ceremony, Army Chief of Staff Brigadier David Oyite Ojok jokingly described Muwanga a man without a job, since the Military Commission rule was over. Obote soon appointed Muwanga as his Vice President and Minister of Defence.