{"id":5058,"date":"2021-02-25T19:11:42","date_gmt":"2021-02-25T19:11:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/?p=5058"},"modified":"2021-02-25T16:29:12","modified_gmt":"2021-02-25T16:29:12","slug":"us-demands-audit-of-ugandas-election-result","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/us-demands-audit-of-ugandas-election-result","title":{"rendered":"US demands audit of Uganda’s election result"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – Uganda<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>Mr Museveni won the January 14 poll with 60 per cent while runner-up Bobi Wine, who got 35 per cent of the valid votes.<\/p>\n

The United States government has called for \u201cindependent, credible, impartial and thorough\u201d investigations into alleged irregularities in Uganda\u2019s presidential elections. Washington also wants members of state security services probed for alleged abuses against Opposition candidates and civil society.<\/p>\n

Mr Ned Price, the US Department of State spokesman, said on Tuesday that Uganda\u2019s January 14 elections were \u201cmarred by election irregularities and abuses by government\u2019s security services\u201d. He did not provide specifics or evidence to substantiate the alleged anomalies.<\/p>\n

However, Ugandan officials, including President Museveni have admitted that security forces killed at least 54 civilians in November 2020 while subduing protests sparked by the arrest of then president candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine.The government is investigating the killings, according to the President, who provided no timeline of the inquiries and whether the findings will be made public. He has separately described most victims as \u201crioters\u201d and \u201cterrorists\u201d while promising that the government will compensate those shot without basis. At the Tuesday press conference at the US Department of State headquarters in Washington DC, Mr Price said: \u201cWe strongly urge [for] independent, credible, impartial and thorough investigations into these incidents. We will consider a range of targeted options to hold accountable those members of the security forces responsible for these actions.\u201dIn Kampala, Information minister and government spokesperson Judith Nabakooba last evening said it was difficult to respond to unspecified concerns. \u201cWe will wait, as we expect, for their communication through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We will sit [as Cabinet] and discuss the concerns and respond as government,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Unspecified options<\/b><\/p>\n

Mr Price had said unspecified options under consideration would target to hold accountable individuals \u201cresponsible for what we saw in the context of Uganda\u2019s election just as we continue to work with Uganda to pursue some of our mutual interests\u201d. The Department of State leads America\u2019s foreign policy to advance US interests abroad and its public criticism and call for audit of Uganda\u2019s elections suggests the matter has gained currency and high-level attention in Joe Biden\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n

Incumbent Yoweri Museveni won the January 14 poll with 60 per cent while runner-up Bobi Wine, who got 35 per cent of the valid votes, rejected the results as manufactured and called for an audit, a call which has gone nowhere. It remained unclear how the US planned to make good its demand for independent inquiries into the election results, which Bobi challenged in court but is withdrawing prematurely citing biased judges.<\/p>\n

Asked whether Washington had formally petitioned the Ugandan government, Mr Anthony Kujawa, the US embassy spokesperson in Kampala, said they are \u201cdeeply troubled by credible reports of election irregularities \u2026 as well as security force violence during the pre-election period.\u201d\u201cWe continue to voice our concerns and call for accountability with Ugandan authorities at the highest levels of government,\u201d he noted, using the diplomatic euphemism of \u201chighest level\u201d that denotes head of state or government.<\/p>\n

Washington has not specified options that it is considering against specific Ugandan security officials, and it remained unclear how such action could affect military cooperation including the ongoing peace-keeping mission in Somalia, where Uganda is the biggest troop contributor, and counter-terrorism operations in the region.<\/p>\n

In an interview last evening, Uganda Media Centre executive director Ofwono Opondo said America\u2019s demand to audit Uganda\u2019s polls is ironic considering that then President Donald Trump alleged that he was rigged out while his successor, Biden, accused his predecessor of inciting insurrection. Supporters of Mr Trump stormed the US Capitol in January in what turned out to be an unsuccessful attempt to stop certification of the results of the November 2020 vote. \u201cAmericans should first address those issues before their government can ask for independent inquiry into Uganda\u2019s elections,\u201d Mr Opondo said.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201c[US Department of State spokesman Price] should remember that we (Ugandans) have interests, both domestic and foreign, which we must pursue, defend and protect. The interest of Uganda is supreme to Ugandans. We don\u2019t believe that the interests of Uganda and the US are mutually exclusive, although the US sometimes is overbearing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Price on Tuesday said Uganda continues to play an \u201cimportant role when it comes to some of our interests in the region\u201d, citing AMISOM.\u201cBut, again, this goes to the point that \u2026 we can pursue our interests and pursue our values at the same time,\u201d he added in response to the demands for election audit and punishment for transgressions.<\/p>\n

REACTIONS\u201cWe strongly urge [for] independent, credible, impartial and thorough investigations into [election irregularities]. We will consider a range of targeted options to hold accountable those members of the security forces responsible for these actions,\u201d Ned Price, US Department of State spokesperson \u201cWe (Ugandans) have interests, both domestic and foreign, which we must pursue, defend and protect. The interest of Uganda is supreme to Ugandans,\u201d Ofwono Opondo, Uganda Media Centre executive director \u201cThe United States is deeply troubled by credible reports of election irregularities during the January 14 polls, as well as security force violence during the pre-election period,\u201d Anthony Kujawa, US Kampala Embassy spokesperson \u201cWe will wait, as we expect, for their communication through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We will sit [as Cabinet] and discuss the concerns and respond as government,\u201d Judith Nabakooba, Information minister<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. Mr Museveni won the January 14 poll with 60 per cent while runner-up Bobi Wine, who got 35 per cent of the valid votes. The United States government has called for \u201cindependent, credible, impartial and thorough\u201d investigations into alleged irregularities in Uganda\u2019s presidential elections. Washington also wants members of state security services […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":5057,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,12],"tags":[233,240,234],"class_list":["post-5058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-uganda","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"\nUS demands audit of Uganda's election result - Uganda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mr Museveni won the January 14 poll with 60 per cent while runner-up Bobi Wine, who got 35 per cent of the valid votes.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/us-demands-audit-of-ugandas-election-result\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US demands audit of Uganda's election result\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mr Museveni won the January 14 poll with 60 per cent while runner-up Bobi Wine, who got 35 per cent of the valid votes.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/us-demands-audit-of-ugandas-election-result\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Uganda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-25T19:11:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2021\/02\/img-6037d029582ac.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/us-demands-audit-of-ugandas-election-result#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/us-demands-audit-of-ugandas-election-result\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"US demands audit of Uganda’s election result\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-25T19:11:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/us-demands-audit-of-ugandas-election-result\"},\"wordCount\":910,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/us-demands-audit-of-ugandas-election-result#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2021\/02\/img-6037d029582ac.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Uganda\",\"uganda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/us-demands-audit-of-ugandas-election-result#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/us-demands-audit-of-ugandas-election-result\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/us-demands-audit-of-ugandas-election-result\",\"name\":\"US demands audit of Uganda's election result - 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