The peace and prosperity of a country is often dependent on a number of factors that include among

others, a sound electoral process. The reality, however, is that in many young democracies where the

culture of accountability and transparency is suppressed by regular incidents of tribal politics and other

forms of corruption, it becomes increasingly difficult for the citizenry to reap the rewards of a democratic

electoral process. Generally, accountability challenges of this nature often extend to electoral

management bodies that are the guardians of the national electoral process, which is critical for the

realization of a country’s development agenda. Such bodies must therefore be transparent and carry

out their mandate independently in order to successfully execute their tasks. It is also important that

all stakeholders both within and outside the policy making arena closely monitor and propose areas for

reform in the electoral process where necessary. It is only through this form of monitoring partnership

that the contribution of the electoral process to development will be improved.

Following the enactment of the 1995 Constitution, Uganda has enjoyed regular elections during the set

constitutional time frames. The electoral process has had a number of results, both positive and negative—

in the pre-1995 period, many elections led to coup d’états due to dissatisfaction with electoral

results whereas after 1995 some of the benefits have included the re-emergence of political parties

following the 2006 referendum on the return to multi-party politics. The widening of the political space

has also brought with it more logistical and electoral challenges. Oftentimes, both the presidential and

parliamentary process has been challenged on different grounds ranging from electoral malpractice,

fear and intimidation of voters, electoral violence et cetera. A range of actors including the Electoral

Commission itself, Parliament, the Government, the Judiciary and civil society actors have all in one

way or another contributed to the evolution of the electoral process and also consistently contributed

to the discourse on areas for electoral reform.

Based on this background, the Young Leaders Think Tank for Policy Alternatives conducted research on

the necessity of electoral reforms in Uganda and the nexus between elections and Uganda’s journey to

realizing its development goals.

The results of the study indicate an above average understanding of electoral issues and the role of the

various stakeholders. It also finds that the existing legal and regulatory framework for elections is not

sturdy enough to guarantee free, fair and peaceful elections. Additionally, from the study it is clear that

the content of electoral reforms should cover both institutional, as well as legal and policy issues. The

government must be at the forefront of developing a better electoral legal regime. Finally, the study

finds that other factors such as poverty and tribalism, also contribute to lowering the effect of elections

in promoting democracy and development aspirations.

The reforms suggested by the respondents include, but are not limited to, a new electoral body; the

passage of a new act to regulate elections; the need for funding of political parties; and finally, the importance of less police and security forces involvement in the political process.