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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Wed Sep 22 2010 - 12:23:47 EDT
Uganda's Museveni sued over bid for fourth term
Tue Sep 21, 2010 6:52pm GMT
* Suit seeks nullification of Museveni's fourth term bid
* Analyst views court action as ploy by Museveni
KAMPALA, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni's bid for a
fourth term is facing a legal challenge from a rival who wants the high
court to prevent the leader from contesting next year's election.
Maguru Ruhinda, a former army captain and lawyer, wants the high court in
the east African nation to quash Museveni's nomination as the ruling party's
chairman and flagbearer at the election due next February.
Ruhinda told Reuters on Tuesday the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party
barred him from opposing Museveni, in power since 1986, at party elections
this month.
Ruhinda has sued Museveni and the NRM's secretary general, Amama Mbabazi,
over his exclusion in the internal party vote.
"I obtained the high court summons yesterday and both the party secretary
general and Museveni have 14 days to file their defence and then hearings
will commence," Ruhinda said.
NRM spokesman Ofwono Opondo declined to comment, saying he did not have
sufficient information.
Museveni, seeking to extend his reign to 30 years with a new five-year term,
has been at the helm since his National Resistance Army insurgents seized
power from a short-lived military junta.
He embraced a no-party model of democracy to end the sectarianism that
plagued post-colonial Ugandan politics, and foreign donors praised his
liberal economic management.
In the past decade, however, support at home has fallen and relations with
the West have frayed because of mounting accusations by the opposition and
rights groups that his leadership has turned autocratic and corrupt.
Political analysts say Museveni, whose share of the vote has dwindled at
each of the last three elections amid allegations of increased rigging,
could face his stiffest challenge yet if the opposition coalition holds
together.
Some analysts are dismissing little-known Ruhinda's court challenge as a
scheme by Museveni to portray the NRM's internal systems as democratic,
where an aggrieved member can seek redress in court.
"My thinking is that this guy is just a project to show the world how NRM is
a democratic party where everyone can seek justice," said Nicholas Ssengoba,
a newspaper columnist. (Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; editing by James
Macharia)
C Thomson Reuters 2010 All rights reserved
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