Uganda: Personal attacks obscure real issues as campaigns come to a close

Personal attacks among election candidates have relegated bread-and-butter issues to the backseat days before Ugandans vote in the country's first multiparty election in 26 years. With 38 per cent of the population living in abject poverty, 1.6 million people displaced from their homes by the war in the north of the country, biting unemployment in the urban areas, industries bleeding over power blackouts and international concerns over democracy and the rule of law, there are enough issues to define the February 23 Ugandan election.