Kamapala — THE British and US governments have deployed observers for Thursday's general elections.

The UK's former Minister for Africa, Mr Chris Mullin, arrived in the country on Monday as a special representative of the British government for the elections.

A statement from the British High Commission in Kampala yesterday said Mullin will be based in Jinja on election day.

"Along with the rest of the international community, we are anxious to see that this election is a fair expression of the will of the people of Uganda. I shall be reporting back to the British government," Mullin said.

A press release from the US Embassy in Kampala yesterday said the American government had dispatched 60 election observers. The Public Affairs officer, Ms Alyson Grunder, said 20 of the observers are Americans while the rest are 40 Ugandan nationals.

The observers, who will be divided into 19 teams, will cover 13 districts in the central, northern, western and eastern regions of Uganda, the statement said. "Regional coordinators for the observation teams have already conducted preliminary logistical and fact-finding missions in their areas of coverage," the statement said.

"This election is for Ugandans to decide. It is our privilege to serve as neutral observers of Uganda's democratic process. We obviously hope that the election will be peaceful, fair and transparent, such that all Ugandans, no matter how they vote, will be able to view the final result as credible and democratic," the statement quoted the US Chargé d'affaires Bill Fitzgerald as saying.

Grunder said for the past two years, Usaid has provided $2.85 million (about Shs6 billion) in support of programmes related to the country's democratisation process and the upcoming elections in particular, including voter education and awareness and get-out-the-vote campaigns (with special attention to IDP camp residents).

Support to parties

It has also supported political party programmes aimed at increasing participation of women and people with disabilities. The US group joins over 200 foreigners who are on the ground to monitor the elections.

These include those from the African Union, Commonwealth, European Union and the East African Community. Electoral Commission officials said the commission had approved the Democracy Monitoring Group (DEMGROUP) to deploy some 20,000 local observers, enough to cover all the 19,788 polling stations.

Some 10,000 local observers from other organisations had also been accredited to monitor elections.