Uganda Peoples Congress
National Secretariat
Plot 8-10 Kampala Road, Uganda House,
P. O. Box 9206, Kampala
phone/Fax:+256-41-236748

Strengthening Democracy in Uganda

10 January 2007

1. Uganda Peoples Congress notes with deep disappointment that the promise for democratization and genuine transition to multiparty system of governance is being squandered owing to the high handedness of government in managing the process one year after the first disputed and fraudulent multiparty elections.
2. The practice of multiparty politics has actually been dealt a death blow by the government failure to accept and respect the principles of the system .The dispersing of opposition rallies by the police is a clear testimony that the government is bent on undermining the process. The Constitution states that power belongs to the people and the people can only exercise this power under a multiparty system through their parties that they freely join or form. However government using state institutions like the police and security agencies does not allow the people to exercise their power.
3. The cardinal principle that drives the operation of parties is funding the political organizations to enable them carry their day to day running cost as public institutions. The regulation and restrictions on financing of political parties and organizations is provided for in the Constitution and Political Parties and Organizations Act. It, among others, compels parties to account to Electoral Commission, maintain accurate and permanent record of all their funds and present statement of account showing sources of funding, membership dues paid, donations in cash and kind.
4. The political parties cannot meet the demands prescribed by the laws of our country owing to the government's failure to fulfill its obligations in not only creating an enabling environment for multiparty democracy to thrive in Uganda but also to fund political parties as well.UPC therefore proposes the following solutions for the true realization of multiparty democracy in Uganda.
1. Government operationalises the article in the constitution and Political Parties and Organizations Act to provide for direct funding of political parties in order to create a level playing field.
2. Government amends the laws restricting parties from soliciting funding from foreign sources
3. If government is incapable of funding parties then they should amend the laws to allow foreigners who are well wishers of multiparty democracy in Uganda to step in and establish political parties' trust fund to be distributed among political parties within an agreed frame work and formula .This has been successfully done in Ethiopia
4. The technical capacities of the political parties also need to be developed. In Ethiopia International donors supported different aspects of technical advise and assistance to strengthen the operational capacity of political parties.
5. The Uganda Peoples Congress would continue to advise the government of the Republic of Uganda to desist from using the heavy handed measures which are counterproductive and which stifle the growth and development of democracy in Uganda. For Multiparty democracy to take firm roots in Uganda it should be nurtured in a favorable environment that accommodates the interest of all the stake holders.

For God and my Country

Mama Miria Kalule Obote

President, Uganda Peoples Congress