Chief Observer Eduard Kukan deployed 54 short-term observers who departed this morning from the Election Observation Mission’s headquarters in Kampala to their respective areas of responsibility across the country to observe voting, counting and tallying.

“As we embark on our second deployment of observers during this election period, I would like to wish Ugandans peaceful elections and to encourage them to go to the polls to exercise their right to vote for the candidates of their choice”, said the Chief Observer, Mr. Eduard Kukan.

On Election day the mission will be reinforced by a delegation of 7 Members of the European Parliament and 26 locally recruited short-term observers from the EU diplomatic community in Uganda.

These observers are joining the 30 long-term observers who were deployed around the country on 12 January and have been meeting stakeholders including government and electoral officials, candidates and political parties’ representatives, as well as members of civil society, voters and the.

The information collected by our observers will be the basis for the mission’s Preliminary Statement, which will be presented by the Chief Observer in a press conference on 20 February in Kampala.

The EU Election Observation Mission was established on 28 December, following an invitation from the Government of Uganda to observe the 18 February General Elections. Chief Observer Eduard Kukan is a Slovak member of the European Parliament. The mission comprises around 130 observers from all EU countries, as well as Norway.

The mission operates in accordance with the “Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation”, adopted under the auspices of the United Nations in 2005. All observers adhere to a Code of Conduct that requires strict neutrality in the course of their work.

By Joshua Mutale