Uganda: A Day After Uganda Elections 2011 · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

This post is part of our special coverage Uganda: Walk to Work Protests.
Ugandans went to the polls Friday 18 February, 2011 for presidential and parliamentary elections. President Yoweri Museveni is expected to win. Below is a roundup of interesting posts and tweets about the elections.
Museveni is leading:
The electoral commission chairman Eng Badru Kiggundu has just made a third announcement. The results released so far are showing that Museveni is in the lead. Hoever, the votes so far only represent less than 2 million voters out of the nearly 14 millionsThe percenatges of the tallied votes so far are Museveni 71.9%, Besigye 22.3%, Ssali Bidandi- 0.43%, Mao- 1.37
Rosebell Kagumire complains about the marginalization of women's voices when it comes to key public issues such as elections:
To Ugandan Televisions and other media!
The election results are slowly coming in. I have been glued to TV and radios all day trying to get different views. I have watched NTV, UBC and other TV stations and the only prominent female voice i saw was that of Presidential candidate Betty Olive Kamya. The TVs  tell me that Uganda has no females capable of analyzing an election. This blockage of women’s voices is not only on experts but also extends to journalist panels like the one on NTV. We are not seeing women’s voices on air.
This marginalization of women in our media especially when it comes to issues that are vital to the future of our country should not be tolerated.
Maureen Agena writes about the role of social media during the elections:
With  the super fast internet here, all I had to do was open as many windows with websites and readily access information about the election progress. Twitter was first on the list, Facebook, the independent Newpaper,The Kampala Dispatch and The Daily Monitor. I must confess that I was shocked but at the same time impressed by the number of people who were tweeting using the #ugandavotes tag.  It was because of this that I was inspired to quickly write this blog post.
State of Technology in Uganda is still wanting:
Also the fact that Mr. Museveni's (Probably through an automated voice) personal call to people who are subscribed to Mobile Telephone Network (MTN) showed that he had finally appreciated the role of ICTs and will this time (if declared president, which is most likely according to the statistics coming in ),appoint an ICT minister who understands the urgency with which Uganda has to catch up with the rest of the world in terms of technology and not for the sake of appointing.
Rosebell wonders if Ugandan media will maintain their online momentum:
In the last three days we have seen all leading media launch twitter accounts  among them @Newvisionwire @dailymonitor @observerug , @UBCnewsjournal.
We have seen newspapers and magazines push to get their share of attention online.  Uganda’s top tabloid @RedpepperUG launched their twitter account and they have joined The Independent newsmagazine @Uganda Talks  and @dispatchug to consistently update content from different parts of the country. While Red Pepper did a great job on the political reporting they never fail to insert in the sex aspects. Presidential candidate Olara Otunnu did not vote and not much is yet known why but one of the reactions was that the only unmarried candidate is good at abstaining.
Howver radio stations which are the major medium of mass communication in the country are yet to venture into online spaces or it probably their owners who are largely politicians are yet to wake up.
The most prominent elections hashtag #Ugandavotes has been vibrant in the last 48 hours and many Ugandans increased their presence on twitter.
Provisional results from Uganda Picks blog:
Current Results (Total)
Total Votes 323624
Polling stations- 1005
Museveni- 226872
Besigye – 69073
Abed -1582
Kamya -1455
Mao- 4211
Otunnu- 6304
Lubega- 857
A chart of provisional results released by the Electoral Commission. Photo courtesy of @UgInsomniac
Steven Youngblood says that Kampalans had a quiet night:
9:30AM SATURDAY—DAY AFTER ELECTION—Things seem to have been quiet overnight. I haven’t run across any new reports of protests, unrest, or violent incidents. The Daily Monitor reports that as of about 9pm last night, “Kampala City Centre is deserted in the early evening hours as both military police and army deployed heavily soon after elections closed. All the major roads in the centre… are all under close surveillance with foot and mobile military patrols.” (See yesterday’s blogs below for details about the violence, which the New York Times dubbed, “sporatic flare-ups”.)
Ugandans will be discussing for weeks (months) the confusion at the polling places yesterday. Journalist Gloria Laker writes, “I am not happy and very disappointed with the Electoral Commission, not sure of the new name they should be given. Is it, “Electoral Confusion”? Many people could not vote because of missing names, displacement and misplacement of pictures etc and my disappointment is that even now, the EC Chairman has not come out to apologize and explain. This is total confusion from EC. What exactly went wrong with the voter register, is that a smart way of rigging? Not fair for citizens to fail to exercise his voting rights.”
Evelyn says that for the first time she went to the polls and did what was right for the country:
This time, 2011, saw our family divided! My brother who from the beginning always thought differently from the rest of us, did not change his mind. My family was divided with the presidential vote. I had a different perspective of who I thought would lead this nation best, my elder brother felt differently too, and my 2 younger brothers, were still under the wings of mummy.. and trust me she is good with convincing so she had those two do as she said.
The final results are not yet in… but one thing is for sure, the winner is already seen. Whether these will be the best 5 years Uganda has seen or the worst, I have no idea, all I know is that for the first time, I headed to the polls and did what I believed was right for me and the future of Uganda, whether what I thought was right will win or lose, I will live with that.
On Twitter, where the hashtag #ugandavotes is used, @UgInsomniac says:
Good job EC tally center! Wireless, limited hassle & no more running thru muddy fields in the rain. #ugandavotes http://twitpic.com/418w75
Latest figures from @malonebarry:
Latest #Ugandavotes figures put Museveni at 71.15% and Besigye at 23.02% with 6,905 out of 23,968 polling stations counted
Rosebell reports:
Police have stormed the FDC/IPC Election TallyCentre in Nakulabye. interrogated people compiling results. #Ugandavotes #Uganda2011
From @RedPepperUG:
UPDATE: Expect lawsuits and RECOUNTS: Sekandi just won a recount, the speaker win in Bukoto #Ugandavotes
@UgInsomniac tweets:
@lutalo247 Nothing. Kla was v. quiet when I drove thru @ 0300. Almost eerily so. Even the police patrols retired for the ngt. #ugandavotes.
This post is part of our special coverage Uganda: Walk to Work Protests.