Today in History: Uganda Votes to Restore Multiparty Democracy

What the report says

Nile Post’s “Today in History” feature recalls Uganda’s July 28, 2005 referendum, when voters backed the reopening of political competition after years under the Movement system. The vote asked whether Ugandans who wanted to join political organisations or parties should be free to do so and compete for power. According to the report, the “Yes” side, represented by a Tree symbol, received 92.44 percent, while the “No” side, represented by a House, got 7.56 percent.

The referendum ended nearly two decades of restrictions on organised party activity introduced after President Yoweri Museveni and the National Resistance Movement came to power in 1986. Under that system, individuals could stand for office, but political parties were not allowed to openly mobilise or contest as organised groups. The government had argued that multiparty competition risked reviving ethnic and religious divisions after earlier instability.

Nile Post notes that the 2005 vote came after pressure for reform from opposition actors, civil society and international partners, and followed a 2000 referendum in which a return to multiparty politics was rejected during an opposition boycott. Turnout in 2005 was about 47 percent of registered voters. Some opposition groups, including the Forum for Democratic Change, also boycotted the 2005 referendum, saying the issue should have been handled through constitutional change rather than a national vote.

The change set the stage for the February 23, 2006 general election, Uganda’s first multiparty national election in about 20 years. The NRM competed as a party, Museveni won another term, and FDC’s Kizza Besigye emerged as the main challenger. Besigye later contested the results in court; the Supreme Court found legal breaches but did not annul the election.