Uganda

The organizer of the Ugandan presidential debate scheduled for Friday says the debate will proceed as planned, despite reports that President Yoweri Museveni may pull out.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and arch rival, Kizza Besigye have pulled out of the much anticipated presidential candidates' debate set for Friday.

Forum for Democratic Change presidential candidate Kizza Besigye said yesterday he will not participate in the presidential candidates debate if President Museveni is out of it.

The highly anticipated televised debate for presidential candidates in Uganda's General Election slated for next month appears unlikely to happen in spite of the organisers' insistence that it will go on as scheduled on January 15.

Ruling party presidential candidate Yoweri Museveni will not attend the January 15 televised presidential debate

Uncertainty still hangs over whether President Museveni will show up for the first round of two presidential debates set for Friday next week as the organisers yesterday rejected suggestions by the National Resistance Movement [NRM] that their candidate may send a representative.

The debate, organised by the Inter-Religious Council Uganda (IRCU) and The Elders Forum of Uganda (TEFU), will be the first of its kind in the country and is expected to be broadcast live on television.

It would be the first presidential debate with all eight participating candidates. It is the only debate scheduled and is expected to last three hours.