By Spy Uganda
Kampala: According to a new opinion poll, Presidential aspirant Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu aka Bobi Wine is in the fittest position to replace President Yoweri Museveni when he retires, leading Dr. Kizza Besigye and first son Muhoozi Kainerugaba who secured second and third position respectively, rallying behind Bobi Wine.
The poll titled ‘The Uganda Governance Pulse,’ was conducted by Research World International, a local polling firm, on behalf of the Great Lakes Institute for Strategic Studies, a public policy think-tank, and the Independent Expert Peer Group of policy and public analysts.
The Uganda Governance Pulse surveys perceptions on a range of issues regarding succession and transfer of power for the office of president.
The survey found that 23 percent of the population would choose Kyagulanyi as the person to succeed President Museveni. Kyagulanyi is followed by Dr. Besigye at 10 percent and Gen. Muhoozi at 6 percent.
Kyagulanyi was mentioned more by male respondents (28%) as compared to females (21%) and respondents among the age band of 18-34 years. Dr. Besigye was evenly mentioned across rural and urban settings as well as age bands, while he was mentioned more among female (19%) respondents than male respondents (14%). Gen. Muhoozi was mentioned more among female (8%) than male (4%) respondents.
Speaking at the release of the report in Kampala on Wednesday, Dr Patrick Wakida, the director of Research World International, said 91% of the population want to vote in the 2021 elections but noted that there is a difference between wanting and voting.
He said majority of people interviewed are those who never went to school and live in villages.
Dr Godber Tumushabe, the executive director Great Lakes Institute, said the Uganda Governance Pulse is going to be a periodic report to find out what Ugandan citizens think about their leaders. “Those perceptions can then contribute to public policy, debates, and governance in this country,” he said
RWI conducted the survey involving 2,321 respondents spread over 218 parishes in 218 sub-counties in all the 15 regions of Uganda. The survey design applied probability sampling which is regarded as the fundamental basis for survey research of this nature.
The selection of the sample by regions was calculated basing on the 2014 National Housing and Population Census published by the Uganda National Bureau of Statistics (UBOS).
The survey sample comprised of 51 percent female and 49 percent male. At least 69 percent of the respondents were from rural settings while 31 percent were from urban setting.
The sample also involved a combined 55 percent of the respondents aged 18-34 years. Majority of the respondents had lower secondary education or less with 29 percent having completed O’Level education and 24 percent not completing primary level education.
