Obasanjo leads Commonwealth team to Ugandan election

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is currently in Uganda for the February 18 presidential election in the country.

The president is leading the commonwealth delegation to the observation of the election, the commonwealth secretariat has confirmed.

“On 18 February 2016, voters in Uganda will be asked to choose a President as well as a local representative for the Parliament. The last general elections were held in February 2011,” the commonwealth said in a statement.

“Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma announced the composition of a team of election observers on 5 February, on the invitation of the Government.

“The 13-member commonwealth observer group is led by former President of Nigeria Olusegun Obasanjo as chairperson, and senator Amos Wako of Kenya as Vice-Chairperson.”

The former Nigerian president is known for his many diplomatic missions to other African countries after his eight years as president.

The secretariat tasked the observers to “assess all factors affecting the credibility of the elections to determine whether they were conducted according to both the laws of Uganda and international standards.

“The group will issue an interim statement of key findings shortly after the election. A final report will be submitted to the commonwealth secretary-general and sent to local stakeholders before being made public.

“The group is supported by a staff support team from the Commonwealth Secretariat.”