General elections were held in Uganda on 23 February 2006. They were the first multi-party elections since President Yoweri Museveni took over power in 1986, and followed a referendum the previous year on scrapping the ban on party politics. Museveni ran for a second re-election as the National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate. His main opponent was the leader of the Forum for Democratic Change,

Kizza Besigye Warren Kizza Besigye Kifefe (born 22 April 1956), known as Colonel. Dr. Kizza Besigye, is a Ugandan physician, politician, and former military officer in the Uganda People's Defence Force. He served as the president of the Forum for Democrati ...

. Besigye was arrested on 14 November 2005 on allegations of treason, concealment of treason, and rape. The treason case included his alleged links to the rebel groups, Lord's Resistance Army and

People's Redemption Army People's Redemption Army (PRA) is a Ugandan rebel group whose existence is disputed. The Government of Uganda has asserted its existence for several years, although it has occasionally called the rebel group "dormant". The rebel group is allegedly b ...

, and the rape charge referred to an incident in November 1997 allegedly involving the daughter of a friend. The arrest led to demonstrations and riots in Kampala and towns around the country. Pro-Besigye protesters believed the charges were fabricated to stop Besigye from challenging Museveni. The result of the presidential election was a victory for Museveni, who received 59 percent of the vote; Besigye took 37 percent. In the parliamentary elections the NRM won 213 of the 319 seats.

Campaign

Justice Forum The Justice Forum (commonly referred to as JEEMA) is a political party in Uganda. The party was originally established as a pressure group in 1995 under the one-party system of the National Resistance Movement, as other political parties were no ...

leader

Muhammad Kibirige Mayanja Muhammad Kibirige Mayanja is a Ugandan politician who founded and served as the first President of the Justice Forum party in Uganda. His first attempt at Politics was in 1994 when he contested for a Constituent Assembly (CA) seat in Kawempe Nor ...

and

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

Ken Lukyamuzi John Ken Lukyamuzi, more commonly known as Ken Lukyamuzi, is a Ugandan politician and lawyer, who is the leader of the Conservative Party of Uganda. He served in the 7th parliament (2001–2006) as the elected representative for Lubaga South (R ...

decided not to contest, but said they would support a joint candidate agreed to by the "Group of Six" opposition political parties. Independent candidate

Nasser Sebaggala Nasser Ntege Sebaggala (15 November 1947 – 26 September 2020) was a Ugandan businessman and politician who was Mayor of Kampala from 2006 to 2011. He was an independent presidential candidate in the 2006 general election before dropping out an ...

registered, but later decided to quit the presidential race, and asked his supporters to vote for the DP's Kizito.

Conduct

The elections were marred by controversy, with the government accused of intimidating opposition parties. This included the arrest and detention of Besigye.

Results

President

By district

Parliament

Aftermath

Opposition supporters in Kampala staged some protests but were dispersed by riot police with tear gas. On 6 April 2006 the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

rejected Besigye's request to dismiss the poll by a vote of four to three, though a majority agreed that there had been electoral irregularities.Uganda court rejects poll protest
BBC News, 6 April 2006

References

External links

Electoral CommissionUganda Elections 2006
Uganda Pulse
Ugandaelections.comUganda police shoot rioter dead
BBC News, 15 November 2005
Profiles of 2006 candidates
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Daily Monitor The ''Daily Monitor'' is a Ugandan independent daily newspaper. Its name is shared by the ''Saturday Monitor'' and ''Sunday Monitor'', which are also published by Monitor Publications Limited. ''Daily Monitor'' averaged a daily circulation of 24,2 ...

,'' 16 December 2005
Museveni nominated
''

New Vision The ''New Vision'' is a Ugandan English-language newspaper published daily in print form and online. Overview ''New Vision'' is one of two main national English-language newspapers in Uganda, the other being the ''Daily Monitor''. It is publi ...

,'' 16 December 2005
Uganda Sets Date for 2006 Election
VOA, 17 December 2005 {{Ugandan elections Uganda

General election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

Elections in Uganda Presidential elections in Uganda February 2006 events in Africa