Uganda: Who will vote for future presidents?

For decades, Ugandans have elected their president through universal suffrage, which gives all adult citizens the right to vote.

However, there are discussions within Uganda's ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party about proposing a bill to amend the country's constitution and adopt a parliamentary system of government.

If such an amendment is passed, Ugandans would no longer vote directly for their president. Instead, the party with majority of lawmakers in the over 500-seat parliament would elect the chief of state.

"They [Ugandans] have been given an opportunity to elect competent members of parliament who are able to digest the manifesto of different political parties, presidential candidates, and then they will choose and elect the best one," said Felix Adupa Ongwech, an NRM member of Parliament who backs the proposal. 

This is not the first time such a constitutional change is being considered. The plan to push for an amendment has been public since 2022. The Transformer Cadres Association of Uganda, which is led by Ongwech aims to mobilize support for the NRM, announced this two years ago.

Uganda's proposed shift to parliamentary system

Critics of the tentative plan say that Ugandans would be denied the chance to decide who leads them as president. But Ongwech disagrees.

"No, they [Ugandans] have not been denied their constitutional right to vote for the president directly," he said.

But the proposal has faced significant criticism, particularly from opposition groups, who fear it would allow Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and his family to extend their grip on power. 

Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, is Africa's third longest-serving president after Cameroon's Paul Biya and Equatorial Guinea's Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.

A Kampala resident, Michael, told DW that switching to a parliamentary system would be bad for Uganda.

"Now for a country like Uganda to allow members of parliament to vote for the president is not a good idea democratically," he said.

Michael fears Uganda's democracy would be damaged if such a proposal amasses support from key government officials.

"A democratic country is where the system of the government or the power is vested in the people, either directly or through elected representatives," he said.

"So now when we let the members of parliament, of course, with their new electoral reforms, vote for the president, we will not be exercising the duty of a democratic country where we have free and fair elections, independent judiciary and a lot more." 

But Ongwech believes these arguments are not convincing enough to reject the proposed plan.

"If you look at it, the members of Parliament are given so much mandate to legislate, appropriate and oversight. They are able to know which presidential candidate has got the best the manifesto that can support the interests of Uganda.

Concerns surrounding proposed constitutional amendment

Such a proposal for a constitutional amendment would have to go to a referendum because the issue is a core — or entrenched — provision of the constitution.

Political analyst Sarah Bireete said that organizing a referendum ahead of the next election, scheduled to take place in 2026, would be tough. 

"The time is not enough for meaningful constitutional reforms, but the debate can begin," she said. However she cautioned that such a change to the current democratic system would be disastrous for Uganda.

"The justification for such a change at this material time does not exist because we cannot say that our multi-party politics have progressed to the level of maturity," she said. "We are still dealing with challenges of the foundation of the multiparty political system."

Bireete said that the parliamentary system is only meant for matured democracies — which she doubts Uganda has at the moment. "So in my view, the time is not ripe for parliamentary democracy," she said.

Protecting Museveni's interest

In 2018, President Yoweri Museveni signed a law removing the presidential age limit of 75 from the constitution — a move that allowed him to run for a sixth term in 2021 at the age of 76.

Uganda's political opposition and some members of the president's ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party immediately criticized the decision. Opposition leader Kizza Besigye described the law as "a well-orchestrated plan to have Museveni rule for life."

Bireete said many of the current proposals to change aspects of the constitution are only intended to protect the interest of Museveni.

"Unfortunately, a failed transition of power at the presidential level leads to so many challenges," she said. "So we have had everything changed under President Museveni. When we changed to remove term limits, he was the only beneficiary of that amendment."

Bireete said Museveni is the only person that would benefit from a switch to a parliamentary system of government.

"So you cannot have one citizen being a beneficiary of fundamental constitutional reforms that deal with the spirit of the constitution. That would also be fundamentally wrong," she said.

Ongwech, however, said that critics of the proposal are overlooking the significant benefits that a change from a presidential to a parliamentary system of government offers.

"We want to save money spent on election during presidential election. Uganda spends a lot of money, at the end of the day Ugandans are not even satisfied with the outcome of presidential election," he said.

However, the ruling NRM party has stated that it has yet to officially consider the proposal. The party’s director of communications, Emmanuel Dombo, said that once the cabinet decides to take up the proposal, the party will offer its official stance.

"Parliament of Uganda has powers to amend the constitution like they have done in the past. When this matter is considered by cabinet or brought to cabinet then we shall give the informed position," Dombo told DW.

If Uganda's constitutional amendment proposal is endorsed, it is expected to be formally submitted as part of electoral law reforms for constitutional review before heading to a referendum.

Edited by: Keith Walker