Election Follow Up

The election results came out Sunday- 68% for Musevani, 25% for the closest opponent. People seemed to take a long exhale- some with relief that violence was minimal and some with resignation. Stores that had been locked up for days opened- some of the grocery stores had almost empty shelves, presumably in preparation for looting. If Musevani had lost, people speculated that the military would have taken over (and Musevani is the military commander). If it had been close, it is likely that the opposition would have reacted more strongly. International observers gave a pass on the fairness of the elections though cited a heavy military presence as a source of intimidation, use of state funds for the ruling party, and some irregularities. Ruling party supporters felt convinced that the elections were fair. The leading opposition candidate called the observers 'election tourists' and he cited bribery, ballot stuffing, and wiping out voter names. I think that all of the opposition candidates have rejected the election results. They have called for peaceful protests, which people think may not be peaceful. At any rate, if they take place it will most likely be in Kampala, a long ways away from me.

Elections for local leaders took place on Wednesday. In Kampala, there were outbreaks of fighting after opposition supporters found stuffed ballot boxes in transit to the polls the night before the election. There was enough chaos that the elections in Kampala were called off about noon. So, no pictures this week as I've stayed away from fights and armed personnel carriers!

Election Day

It is election day for president and members of parliament. Political arguments have been the main topic of conversation during the 50 minute rides in the crowded UN Land Rovers that go back and forth between Mbarara and the project villages. Of course, I don't understand much of it as it's usually in Runyankole (and my studies, which have been sporadic, have sadly not yielded much). It's generally loud but people laugh a lot. And the arguments often run along the lines of peace and stability (pro-Musevani) vs. corruption, ineffectual government, and developmental stagnation(supporters of one of the seven opposition candidates). There's also been speculation about the likelihood of post-election violence. Uniformly people think the likelihood of violence is low- there's a moderate military/police presence and no one is optimistic that they would use restraint. There's also such a sense of inevitability about Musevani's victory that it will not come as a surprise to any faction when he gets the >51% needed to avoid a run-off.

Election day is a national holiday. It is very quiet in town, with many businesses closed. By law, campaigning had to stop yesterday so there are none of the music-blaring, poster-decorated trucks which have been present for weeks on the street. People have to cast votes from their home village or city and there are no absentee ballots so many Ugandans who work away from home have traveled. And about half the westerners I know have left the country. (IF violence occurs I'm quite close to both the Tanzanian and Rwandan borders.) My Ugandan housemate, Sam, and I walked to a few of the polling sites this morning. They are outdoors, ballots are paper and pencil which are then stuffed into large plastic boxes, and people get their thumbs stamped on registration but the polls otherwise look like ours- lines of people patiently waiting to vote. The Besigye campaign has been airing a radio ad asking people to arrive early, make sure there are no ballots in the box before the polls open, and stay late. So there are more people hanging around- more police and lots of observers.

Waragi

On the way to a health center one day, we came across a waragi ‘factory’. Despite the fact that it looks like an Appalachian Mountain illegal still, I was told that it is legal and taxed- though a bit unclear if it is regulated. Waragi is the local brew. It comes from a particular type of banana. Raw bananas are wrapped in banana leaves and after a few days the fluid is extracted to make ‘tonto’, a banana beer. After further fermentation, it’s distilled into a 40% alcohol drink. The copper tubes coil through a stream to cool the vapor and waragi is collected in the yellow jerry cans. Like a factory tour anywhere, we asked questions and found out it takes 7 jerry cans of tonto to make one jerry can of waragi. The waragi is then either sold locally for drinking or sold to distributors in Kampala who re-distilled it, add flavors, and bottle it for sale as ‘Ugandan Waragi’. I have taken the tiniest taste and will not repeat the experience. The upside of this industry is that it’s a good source of income for some and interesting for me to see. The downside is that Uganda has the highest alcohol consumption in the world- and no means for treatment of alcoholism at the village level. In the final picture, the seated man has just taken a straw from the jerry can out of his mouth.

New School

Getting from one health center to another in the villages requires sharing rides in the UN cars that come to ‘the field’ from Mbarara each day. So on Monday I rode along with a visitor from one of the funding agencies- Millennium Promise Japan- who was in Uganda to look at the education projects that the organization is supporting. It was the first day of school after the long holiday break and we visited a new school that was almost ready for use. In theory, there is universal primary education for 7 years in Uganda. But a number of factors get in the way; while ‘free’, fees for uniforms and supplies are sometimes challenging for parents; schools may be far from homes as the majority of Ugandans live in rural areas (up to 5 km within the project area in mountainous terrain); and children, especially girls, are often needed at home to fetch water and firewood, work in the gardens, and care for younger siblings. Early in the project, the primary school enrollment was 76% though this doesn’t account for later starts to the school day and absences. The goals have been to make primary education truly universal within the project cluster and to improve the quality of education. Millennium Villages Project has built and upgraded schools and initiated school feeding programs. Initially the project supported 100% of the school feeding costs though parents have gradually been assuming responsibility by contributing bags of food (beans, cornmeal, matoke). Each school also has a garden cared for by the students so that parents now know that their children are getting a varied diet and they often send pre-school children with their older siblings. Early in the project, only 15% of children went on to secondary school. School fees and expenses (usually children need to board at schools away from the villages), early marriages, and parental bias against girl education prevent girls, especially, from going on to secondary school. So Millennium Promise Japan has started to fund secondary education for a limited number of girls who have gotten the top grade in their primary 7 exams. There is a running discussion about the wisdom of investing in a few children vs. using the money in general school improvement. Personally, I’ve met some of these girls who are so smart and deserving of this scholarship and I am convinced (with no proof) that this is a good use of funds.