2001 Ugandan presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Uganda on 12 March 2001. The incumbent Yoweri Museveni won 69% of the vote and was elected to a second term.[1] All candidates were independents, as political parties were banned at the time. Voter turnout was 70.3%.

2001 Ugandan presidential election

← 1996 12 March 2001 2006 →
Registered10,775,836
Turnout70.31%
 
Candidate Yoweri Museveni Kizza Besigye
Party Independent Independent
Popular vote 5,123,360 2,055,795
Percentage 69.33% 27.82%

Results by district
Museveni:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
Besigye:      50–60%      70–80%      80–90%

President before election

Yoweri Museveni
Independent

Elected President

Yoweri Museveni
Independent

Candidates

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Yoweri Museveni was running for his second term in office in 2001. He took power in 1986 after winning a guerrilla war against President Tito Okello. Museveni's main rival was four-time rival Kizza Besigye, who was Museveni's personal physician and a military officer who broke ties with the NRM government in 2001.[2]

Results

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CandidatePartyVotes%
Yoweri MuseveniIndependent5,123,36069.33
Kizza BesigyeIndependent2,055,79527.82
Aggrey AworiIndependent103,9151.41
Kibirige MayanjaIndependent73,7901.00
Francis BwengyeIndependent22,7510.31
Karuhanga ChapaaIndependent10,0800.14
Total7,389,691100.00
Valid votes7,389,69197.54
Invalid/blank votes186,4532.46
Total votes7,576,144100.00
Registered voters/turnout10,775,83670.31
Source: African Elections Database

Post-election events

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Besigye did not concede the race but instead requested a formal vote recount on the basis of voter fraud. Museveni also claimed that there was a "rigging" of the vote, albeit in Besigye's favour; he also remarked that he should have won 75% of the vote instead. The independent election watchdog Election Monitoring Group found voter fraud to be minimal.[2][3] The same day after results were announced, a pipe bomb exploded in downtown Kampala, killing one woman; a similar explosion occurred on a minibus headed towards the capital, injuring three people. However, it was not immediately clear if the explosions were related to the presidential election.[2] In a majority decision, the Supreme Court of Uganda subsequently rejected Besigye's petition for a recount.[4][5] Shortly after being elected to a second term as president, Museveni pledged to step down before the next election but subsequently walked back on his promise.[6]

References

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  1. ^ Elections in Uganda African Elections Database
  2. ^ a b c Fisher, Ian (15 March 2001). "Final Count Has Uganda President Winning 69% of Vote". The New York Times.
  3. ^ Borzello, Anna (14 March 2001). "Uganda's Museveni leads in 'rigged' elections". The Guardian.
  4. ^ Dagne, Ted. "Uganda: Recent Elections and Current Conditions" (PDF). CRS Report for Congress.
  5. ^ "2001 elections: Supreme Court Judges ruling". Daily Monitor. 16 December 2006. Archived from the original on 15 July 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  6. ^ "Yoweri Museveni - Uganda's president profiled". BBC. 17 February 2016.