Uganda Votes

Elections are imminent. In two days, millions of Ugandans will travel back to their home villages or their closest polling station to cast their ballots in favor of the incumbent, President Museveni, or one of the seven different opposition candidates, one of which, is a women.

So far, the process leading up to election day has been very peaceful, especially when compared to other events currently going on throughout Africa and much of the Middle East.

As PCVs living in country, we get many updates on how the campaigns are going and any potential threats. So far we’ve been told that things have been calm this week and that Museveni has been fighting fair (although African standards of fair are quite different than American standards).

Museveni has been in power for 25 years. And he has done many great things for Uganda. In talking with voters in my community (colleagues and students), it’s difficult to develop any sort of logical consensus as to what a majority of Ugandans believe. Some of them still love Museveni and think he should keep on keepin’ on. Others think he should have left tomorrow and will vote for anyone but him.

Most of my fellow teachers pass their morning tea and afternoon lunch breaks embarking on diatribes against the two and half decade incumbent. Others, like my S4 students, praise him for providing them with free universal education, something they would not be able to afford otherwise, even though it’s quality may be lacking. And like almost every other nation, these opinions change depending on what region of the country you are in. I happen to be in an anti-incumbent region.

With seven different opposition candidates, it would be difficult for one of them to gain the required 51% majority to win elected office. What would be more interesting to see is the opposition vote depriving Museveni of his required 51% for re-election, in which case the vote goes to a runoff of the top two finishers. Some Ugandans recently informed me that although many of them support the different opposition candidates, on election day, they will all select the one they believe to be the strongest, in hopes of defeating the incumbent, I found this very interesting.

However, I’m still very much an outsider when it comes to this topic. I wish I could speak intelligently about the current issues, candidate platforms, and relevant statistics to be able to develop an informed opinion, but to be honest, I have no clue. I don’t understand what is meaningful to Ugandans and what they are going to be voting on on Friday. I wish I did. I wish I could communicate it to everyone back home. But I think it is far too complicated and limited solely to Ugandans’ actual perspectives. Alas, I remain neutral. It feels great to be in Uganda during such an exciting and unique event. I hope for a vote that is free, fair, and peaceful for all Ugandans.