1. Home
  2. East Africa
  3. Uganda

Uganda given British “benchmarks of fairness”

Cook told IRIN on Tuesday that Britain had given the Ugandan government “a set of benchmarks” by which the fairness of the referendum would be assessed, but that he could not comment further until they were published in Uganda next week. He disagreed with “rump political parties” and opposition elements calling for a boycott because they considered the referendum itself undemocratic. “The referendum is allowed for in the constitution, which is widely accepted ... We think a boycott is not a very helpful gesture,” he said. Ugandans would be better advised to engage with even a flawed referendum process in order to move the process of democratisation forward, he added.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

Share this article

Get the day’s top headlines in your inbox every morning

Starting at just $5 a month, you can become a member of The New Humanitarian and receive our premium newsletter, DAWNS Digest.

DAWNS Digest has been the trusted essential morning read for global aid and foreign policy professionals for more than 10 years.

Government, media, global governance organisations, NGOs, academics, and more subscribe to DAWNS to receive the day’s top global headlines of news and analysis in their inboxes every weekday morning.

It’s the perfect way to start your day.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian today and you’ll automatically be subscribed to DAWNS Digest – free of charge.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian

Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

Join