'No-party rule' wins

Mueveni's one party rule is set to stay

President Yoweri Museveni's "no-party" system of government has decisively won a referendum on the future form of politics in the country.

With a turnout of about 50% of those registered to vote, 91% voted for the current "no-party" system with only nine percent voting for multi-party politics.

Ugandan political parties had called for a boycott of the referendum, but it's not clear from the results how much their appeal was heeded.

The BBC's correspondent in Kampala, Anna Borzello, says the results will thrill President Museveni who argues that multi-party politics breed ethnicity in underdeveloped countries.

The National Movement

Mr Museveni's National Resistance Movement, which led the country out of a rebel war into government in 1986 is the official political party of the country.

In theory every Ugandan is a member of the Movement and can stand for any public office, from the village to the cabinet, but cannot do so under the banner of the three political parties that currently exist. The opposition Democratic Party which opposes the no-party system said they would not respect the result.

They said they would continue their campaign for pluralist politics in Uganda and warned that the no-party system had serious repercussions for the country.

International donors

A group of western donors that had contributed $4.5m to the cost of holding the referendum echoed this concern.

"The group of donors emphasises the importance of ensuring that the movement system does not evolve into a de facto one-party state," a statement said.

Official observers have declared the voting free and fair, but said that the campaign process fell short of providing a level playing field.