Kampala — The government is profiling donors and political parties and organisations engaged in the Deepening Democracy Programme of the European Union with a view to sanction their activities if they are against the law. One area of sanction, according to Ms Kabakumba Masiko, the Minister of Information Guidance, is funding.

"The Deepening Democracy Programme is supposed to help the to promote democracy and good governance but it has turned into a promoter, sponsor and funder of the opposition. Does democracy mean working with the opposition against government?, she asked. She said the government will profile the donors to find out what they are doing and take the necessary action in case they are found to be violating the Political Parties and Organisations Act (POA).

Bad picture

She was commenting on the Daily Monitor political opinion poll whose results have been running since Monday. TNS Research International carried out the poll that was commissioned by Daily Monitor and the Deepening Democracy Programme. The POA compels political parties and organisations to disclose their source of funding and forbids receipt of money from external sources. Ms Masiko questioned the poll saying it was intended to paint a bad picture of President Museveni in the presence of two thousand delegates attending the International Criminal Court Review Conference in Kampala.

Veiled campaign

She alleged that there was also a motive to give a picture that Ugandans wanted an NRM party without President Museveni which was a was a veiled campaign for the opposition. But Daily Monitor's Managing Editor, Mr Daniel Kalinaki said the poll was conducted transparently and professionally. "We don't expect everyone to be pleased by the findings but numbers never lie. It was just a coincidence that part of it was done at the time Uganda hosted the ICC conference," he said.

He said Ugandans should not reduce such important national matters to times convenient to some or all parties. He said the newspaper has built a tradition of commissioning and publishing professional polls intended to portray a clear picture "as we seek to improve our country Uganda."