Election Violence and Voters’ Behaviour in Uganda: “Success of Decentralization Strategy

The aim of this survey was to appraise election violence and voter behaviour in Uganda. The rule of the thumb was used to draw the sample for the study. Copies of structured questionnaire were administered on the respondents using purposive sampling technique to study two urban centers in Uganda - Hoima and Kigorobya. Using the analysis of variance and Bonferroni tests as instruments of data analysis, findings indicated among others that voter motivation, political parties, voter perceptions and civic education have a strong contribution towards election violence among voters in Uganda. Forms of election violence could easily be as a result of voters’ perception, voter motivation, civic education and political organizations or parties. The mode of elections organized by governments presents a closer relationship between election violence and voter behaviour characterized by perceptions, motivation, civic education and political party activities. There was a significant positive relation between election violence and voter behaviour. If factors promoting election violence are to be dealt with so as to have a peaceful political system, the study submitted that political big wigs should embrace the culture of attitudinal change and see politics or elections as a game that there must always be a winner and a loser