Zambia has a lot to learn from Uganda polls, says former president

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Zambia has a lot to learn from Uganda polls, says former president

4:04 CAT | 24 Feb 2016

Rupiah Banda

Former president Rupiah Banda says Zambia has a lot to learn from the just ended Uganda elections, as the southern African country prepares to go to the polls later this year, The Post reports.

Banda’s comments came after incumbent President Yoweri Museveni extended his three decade rule in Uganda after clinching 60.7% of the vote in last week’s elections.

Museveni’s nearest rival, opposition leader Kizza Besigye of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), got 35%.

Describing the elections in Uganda as “tense”, Banda, who was part of the observer mission, said Zambia had a lot of lessons to learn.

“We certainly have a lot of lessons to learn. To what those lessons are, it is not for me to say but we have a lot to learn. It was a bigger presidential election than we have ever had. So in terms of the numbers and the tension and everything, we have a lot to learn.”

The Ugandan elections were marred lengthy delays in the delivery of polling materials, some incidents of violence as well as government shutdown of social media.

The results have since been rejected as fraudulent by the FDC, which issued a statement ahead of the final results.

Besigye was arrested four times in just one week after looking into the electoral fraud and demanding an independent audit.

When asked about the validity of Museveni’s win and if it represented the will of the people, Banda said:

“… I think that’s why there is a provision in the electoral law of this country and indeed on many of our countries that after the elections have taken place, people who have issues to raise should go to court and the reason for that is that the court will have adequate time and adequate evidence to be able to make the decisions as to exactly what you are asking.”

Source: News 24