KAMPALA, Apr 12 – Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said any plans to send foreign observers to monitor polls next year would be farcical, adding that they should be ignored, in an interview published Monday.
"This is just a farce because whom are you supervising? Who can supervise me? Who has got more experience than myself?" Museveni was quoted by the independent Daily Monitor as saying.
"Politely just ignore them, but it is really pretentious to say the least."
Hundreds of foreign observers were deployed to monitor Uganda\’s last general election in 2006.
In February, the European Union envoy to Uganda said the country was behind schedule to ensure free and fair elections in 2011, while the US Congress directed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in January to "closely monitor preparations" for the poll.
"We know what we are doing. If there is anything that needs to be done. If there is anybody who knows how it should be done, it is us, not anybody else," Museveni said.
The former guerrilla fighter has led Uganda since seizing power in 1986 and is expected to seek re-election after presidential term limits were scrapped in 2005.
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