CAMPAIGN FINANCING AND COMMERCIALISATION OF POLITICS: A REVIEW OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK IN UGANDA

ABSTRACT

The study investigated the effectiveness or adequacy of the electoral legal framework in

regulation of Campaign financing in Uganda. The research objectives were to; identifY the

elements of campaign financing in Uganda; identifY the gaps available in the electoral legal

framework in regard to campaign financing in Uganda and make necessary recommendations

towards the electoral legal framework and campaign financing in Uganda. A cross-sectional

survey research design was used adopting both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The

research used a sample of I 46 respondents. Simple random sampling and Purposive sampling

were both used. Methods of data collection were questionnaires and interviews guides.

Descriptive statistics provided the techniques of numerically and graphically presenting

information. Qualitative data was analyzed through content analysis. Findings of the study

revealed that political candidates did not receive campaign funding from government yet the

Political Parties and other organizations Act 2005 (PPOA) as amended do provide for public

funding of political parties; the existing law assigns the role of supervising adherence to

campaign finance regulations to Electoral commission but there seems to be issues with its

implementation and the public was not sensitised about the laws regulating campaign financing

because fi·om the interviews, what the respondent identified as key expenditure points for

campaign financing are illegal. The researcher concluded that failure to regulate the arena of

campaign finance allows the influence of wealthy individuals and corporations to drown out

the voices of individual citizens which might cause the public to become disillusioned with and

mistrustful of the political system. The study recommends that; the element of limits on

contributions and expenditure should be included in the laws governing campaign financing by

the Parliament of Uganda and that Uganda legislature enact necessary legislation and/or

propose necessary constitutional initiatives to impose limits on political contributions to

candidates and political parties.