Uganda: Trouble in the opposition's polls watching system

2nd Uganda IPC Fails To Tally Own Poll Results After System Breakdown

First Published Saturday, 19 February 2011 12:28 pm - © 2011 Dow Jones

KAMPALA, Uganda -(Dow Jones)- Plans by the Ugandan opposition Interparty Coalition, or IPC, to tally and announce its own presidential and parliamentary poll results have been hampered by the breakdown of their SMS software system, the IPC announced Saturday.

The coalition is unable to receive and tally results from polling centers across the country because of faults on the SMS system, according to Margaret Wokuri, the IPC spokeswoman.

"We do not know what has happened to our system, but we suspect sabotage," she said. "At the moment we are unable to relay results as earlier promised."

The IPC, a coalition of four political parties, is backing Uganda's veteran opposition leader, Kizza Besigye, who is tussling it out with incumbent Yoweri Museveni.

Despite warning from the police and the Electoral Commission, the IPC had insisted that it would announce its own results to avoid being rigged.

Political analysts had warned that a parallel announcement could trigger post-election violence in Uganda.

Meanwhile, the Ugandan Electoral Commission continues to announce results trickling in from poll centers across the country. The Ugandan military deployed heavily around the offices of the election body on Saturday afternoon.

Troops have also been deployed around the IPC's headquarters in Kampala. Most shops and stores remained closed Saturday. Election observers are expected to release a statement on the conduct of the polls on Sunday.

At least 80% of the around 14 million voters turned up for the February polls and preliminary results indicate that Museveni is in a commanding lead, with at least 71% of the votes counted so far compared with Besigye's 23%.

Earlier this week, the Ugandan state communications regulator directed telecommunications companies and bulk SMS providers to scrutinize and block messages likely to incite violence during and after the polls.

Heather Kashner, the Ugandan country director for U.S.-based National Democratic Institute, told Dow Jones Newswires separately that Uganda telecom companies blocked text messages to the group's tally/data center on Friday.

"All SMS relaying election related reports to our data room were blocked yesterday," she said adding that after talks with the companies, the SMS blockade was lifted Saturday afternoon.
The observer group has been flagging SMS on election-related malpractices like voter bribery, intimidation and violence on their website.

The Ugandan military has deployed heavily in the capital Kampala since Thursday, and by Saturday morning, dozens of troops and military vehicles maintained a strong presence on the streets.

The IPC, which has already said that polls were massively rigged, has warned of Egypt-like protests.

According to Wokuri, some opposition agents refused to sign poll results declaration forms at many polling centers citing irregularities.

-By Nicholas Bariyo, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires