Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what support the UK Government provided (a) directly and (b) through partners to evaluate whether the recent presidential election in Uganda was free and fair.

The UK has consistently supported the development of democracy in Uganda as a vital part of it being stable and prosperous. We urged that the recent elections should be credible, including through my tweet on 13 January. I also spoke with Ugandan Foreign Minister Kutesa and the Ugandan High Commission on 12 January about the importance of ensuring that the UK was able to deploy election observers. To that end we deployed 15 teams consisting of a total of 51 Election Observers across Uganda on election day. They observed and evaluated over 120 polling stations and reported back to the British High Commission. We continue to consult with the diplomatic community in Kampala, civil society actors, other international observers, and the Government of Uganda to ensure we have a comprehensive and accurate picture of both the election and post-election period. We have also urged the Government of Uganda to respond to the concerns raised. We would also like to commend the Ugandan media for their reporting on the elections. The UK, as part of the Media Freedom Coalition underlined on 8 January the importance of the media's ability to provide accurate and reliable information, for journalists to be accredited ahead of Uganda's elections - and urged the Ugandan authorities to address restrictions. We will continue to work with Ugandan partners to build long-term political freedoms.