Politics of Uganda#Judiciary

The politics of Uganda occurs in an authoritarian context. Since assuming office in 1986 at the end of the Ugandan civil war, Yoweri Museveni has ruled Uganda as an autocrat.{{Citation |last1=Makara |first1=Sabiti |title=Uganda |date=2023 |url=https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/60999 |work=Democratic Backsliding in Africa? |pages=212–234 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-286732-2 |last2=Wang |first2=Vibeke|hdl=20.500.12657/60999 }}{{Cite book |last=Tapscott |first=Rebecca |url=https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/49735 |title=Arbitrary States |date=2021 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-885647-4 |language=en |doi=10.1093/oso/9780198856474.001.0001|hdl=20.500.12657/49735 }} Political parties were banned from 1986 to 2006 in the wake of the 2005 Ugandan multi-party referendum which was won by pro-democracy forces. Since 2006, Museveni has used legal means, patronage, and violence to maintain power.

Under the Ugandan constitution, Uganda is a presidential republic in which the President is the head of state and the prime minister is the head of government business. There is a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is given to both the government and the National Assembly. The system is based on a democratic parliamentary system with equal rights for all citizens over 18 years of age.

Political culture

File:Idi Amin at UN (United Nations, New York) gtfy.00132 (cropped).jpg, one of the most notable of Ugandan presidents.|265x265px]]

After taking power after a five-year civil war in 1986, the authoritarian Yoweri Museveni regime banned political parties from campaigning in elections or field candidates directly (although electoral candidates could belong to political parties). A constitutional referendum canceled this 19-year ban on multi-party politics in July 2005.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}}

Presidential elections were held in February 2006. Museveni ran against several candidates, of whom the most prominent was the exiled Dr. Kizza Besigye. Museveni was declared the winner. Besigye alleged fraud, and rejected the result. The Supreme Court of Uganda ruled that the election was marred by intimidation, violence, voter disenfranchisement, and other irregularities. However, the Court voted 4-3 to uphold the results of the election.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4750040.stm "Uganda's Museveni wins election"], BBC, 25 February 2006

Executive

Image:Yoweri Museveni.jpg, current President of Uganda.]]

|President

|Yoweri Museveni

|National Resistance Movement

|26 January 1986

|-

|Prime Minister

|Robinah Nabbanja

|National Resistance Movement

|21 June 2021

|}

The head of state in Uganda is the President, who is elected by a popular vote to a five-year term. This is currently Yoweri Museveni, who is also the head of the armed forces. The previous presidential elections were in February 2011, and in the election of February 2016, Museveni was elected with 68 percent of the vote. The cabinet is appointed by the president from among the elected legislators. The prime minister of Uganda, Robina Nabbanja, assists the president in the supervision of the cabinet.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}}

The Cabinet of Uganda, according to the Constitution of Uganda, "shall consist of the President, the Vice President and such number of Ministers as may appear to the President to be reasonably necessary for the efficient running of the State."[http://www.ugandaembassy.com/Constitution_of_Uganda.pdf 1995 Constitution of Uganda] (see page 83 of 192)[http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text.jsp?file_id=170004 2005 amended Constitution of Uganda] (see page 100 of 231)

=Ministries of Uganda=

The below are the ministries in Uganda:{{cite web|url=http://mtic.go.ug/index.php?/ministries-in-uganda/|title=Home - Ministry of Trade Industry and Cooperatives|website=mtic.go.ug}}

Political parties and elections

=Presidential elections=

File:GovPic.png

The most recent presidential elections in Uganda were held on 14 January 2021 featuring 11 aspirants comprising 10 men and 1 woman.

The announced but contested results are as follows;

class="wikitable"

!Candidates' Names

!Votes

!Percentage

Amuriat Oboi Patrick

|337,589

|3.26%

Kabuleta Kiiza Joseph

|45,424

|0.44%

Kalembe Nancy Linda

|38,772

|0.37%

Katumba John

|37,554

|0.36%

Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu

|3,631,437

|35.08%

Mao Norbert

|57,682

|0.56%

Mayambala Willy

|15,014

|0.15%

Mugisha Muntu Gregg

|67,574

|0.65%

Mwesigye Fred

|25,483

|0.25%

Tumukunde Henry Kakurugu

|51,392

|0.50%

Yoweri Museveni

|6,042,898

|58.38%

Invalid Votes

|393,500

|3.66%

Valid Votes

|10,350,819

|

Source: Uganda Electoral Commission{{Cite web|last=administrator|date=2021-01-27|title=2021 General Elections|url=https://www.ec.or.ug/2021-general-elections|access-date=2021-02-14|website=Electoral Commission|language=en}}

In this 2021 election, the pop star-turned-politician Bobi Wine (also known as Robert Kyagulanyi Sentamu) was runner-up and challenged the election results in the country's highest court (Supreme Court), seeking to overturn Museveni's victory.{{Cite web|title=Supreme Court outlines timeline for handling Bobi petition|url=https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/supreme-court-outlines-timeline-for-handling-bobi-petition-3287412|access-date=2021-02-14|website=Daily Monitor|date=11 February 2021 |language=en}} The highly contested election was marred with violence; the European Parliament voiced outrage and condemnation, calling for sanctions against individuals and organisations responsible for human rights violations in Uganda.{{Cite web|date=2021-11-02|title=Human rights breaches in Uganda, Rwanda and Kazakhstan {{!}} News {{!}} European Parliament|url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20210204IPR97122/human-rights-breaches-in-uganda-rwanda-and-kazakhstan|access-date=2021-02-14|website=www.europarl.europa.eu|language=en}}

The results of the most recent presidential election from 2021 are as below:{{Election results|cand1=Yoweri Museveni|party1=National Resistance Movement|votes1=6042898|cand2=Bobi Wine|party2=National Unity Platform|votes2=3631437|cand3=Patrick Amuriat|party3=Forum for Democratic Change|votes3=337589|cand4=Mugisha Muntu|party4=Alliance for National Transformation|votes4=67574|cand5=Norbert Mao|party5=Democratic Party|votes5=57682|cand6=Henry Tumukunde|party6=Independent|votes6=51392|cand7=Joseph Kabuleta|party7=Independent|votes7=45424|cand8=Nancy Kalembe|party8=Independent|votes8=38772|cand9=John Katumba|party9=Independent|votes9=37554|cand10=Fred Mwesigye|party10=Independent|votes10=25483|cand11=Willy Mayambala|party11=Independent|votes11=15014|invalid=393500|electorate=18103603|source=[https://www.ec.or.ug/news/publishing-final-results-presidential-elections-2021 ECU]}}

=Parliamentary elections=

The results of the most recent parliamentary election from 2021 are as below:{{Election results|image=File:Ouganda Parlement 2021.svg|firstround=Constituency|secondround=Women|seattype1=Appointed|seattype2=Total|seattype3=+/–|party1=National Resistance Movement|votes1=4158934|seats1=218|votes1_2=4532814|seats1_2=101|st1t1=17|st2t1=336|st3t1=+42|party2=National Unity Platform|votes2=1347929|seats2=43|votes2_2=1607425|seats2_2=14|st1t2=0|st2t2=57|st3t2=New|party3=Forum for Democratic Change|votes3=729247|seats3=24|votes3_2=674154|seats3_2=8|st1t3=0|st2t3=32|st3t3=–4|party4=Democratic Party|votes4=245248|seats4=8|votes4_2=181364|seats4_2=1|st1t4=0|st2t4=9|st3t4=–6|party5=Uganda People's Congress|votes5=180313|seats5=7|votes5_2=229884|seats5_2=2|st1t5=0|st2t5=9|st3t5=+3|party6=Alliance for National Transformation|votes6=72018|seats6=0|votes6_2=82318|seats6_2=0|st1t6=0|st2t6=0|st3t6=New|party7=Justice Forum|votes7=24843|seats7=1|votes7_2=22625|seats7_2=0|st1t7=0|st2t7=1|st3t7=+1|party8=People's Progressive Party|votes8=10076|seats8=1|st1t8=0|st2t8=1|st3t8=+1|party9=Uganda Economic Party|votes9=6199|seats9=0|st1t9=0|st2t9=0|st3t9=New|party10=Ecological Party of Uganda|votes10=4287|seats10=0|st1t10=0|st2t10=0|st3t10=New|party11=Conservative Party|votes11=1071|seats11=0|st1t11=0|st2t11=0|st3t11=0|party12=Social Democratic Party|votes12=719|seats12=0|st1t12=0|st2t12=0|st3t12=0|party13=Forum for Integrity in Leadership|votes13=122|seats13=0|st1t13=0|st2t13=0|st3t13=New|party14=Congress Service Volunteers Organisation|votes14=68|seats14=0|st1t14=0|st2t14=0|st3t14=New|party15=Independents|votes15=3217480|seats15=51|votes15_2=2785676|seats15_2=20|st1t15=3|st2t15=74|st3t15=+8|row16=Uganda People's Defence Force|st1t16=10|st2t16=10|st3t16=0|total_st3t=+103|source=[https://www.ec.or.ug/ecresults/2021/MPS_RESULTS_2021.pdf Electoral Commission]}}

Judiciary

The Ugandan judiciary operates as an independent branch of government and consists of magistrate's courts, high courts, courts of appeal (which organizes itself as the Constitutional Court of Uganda when hearing constitutional issues), and the Supreme Court. Judges for the High Court are appointed by the president; Judges for the Court of Appeal are appointed by the president and approved by the legislature.{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}}

Foreign relations

A fight between the Ugandan and Libyan presidential guards sparked chaos during a ceremony attended by the heads of state from 11 African nations on March 19, 2008.{{cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/03/20/uganda.libya/index.html|title=Guards for African leaders battle; dozen injured |first=Samson |last=Ntale|website=CNN}}

International organization participation

{{Div col|colwidth=20em|content=* ACP (Lomé Convention)

References

Sources

[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3493311.stm Uganda's opposition join forces] (BBC News, 16 February 2004)
[https://web.archive.org/web/20051020235819/http://hotzone.yahoo.com/b/hotzone/blogs1217 "Uganda 'night commuters' flee rebel brutality"] (Yahoo News, October 17, 2005)
Tripp, Aili Mari, Museveni’s Uganda: Paradoxes of Power in a Hybrid Regime, Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2010.

External links

[http://www.parliament.go.ug/ Parliament of Uganda]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20050529004100/http://www.statehouse.go.ug/index.php State House of Uganda]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20050413192056/http://www.parliament.go.ug/constitute.htm Constitution of the Republic of Uganda]
[http://www.janda.org/ICPP/ICPP2000/Countries/9-CentralEastAfrica/98-Uganda/98-Uganda63-00.htm Party Politics in Uganda, 1963-2000], Christina Nyströmee