By Josepha Jabo, Kampala

Many Ugandans are praying for peaceful presidential elections, and there is no reason why we cannot have them. The 2011 presidential elections have eight candidates in the race and naturally their supporters want them to win.

However, to achieve this, Uganda doesn’t have to experience a repeat performance of Kenya’s 2007-08 post-election violence in which 1,500 people lost their lives. Neither do we want an encore of the September 2009 riots that shook urban Buganda. In both episodes of violence, tribalism became a major issue.

However, tribalism should never be a factor in politics. Obviously, only one candidate will win, but that shouldn’t necessarily mean that the other seven candidates will be ‘losers’ because embarking on a presidential campaign in itself is a massive enterprise that requires a lot of courage.

I would, therefore, like to urge the Ugandan electorate to refrain from violence and accept the final poll results that will be officially announced by the Electoral Commission, even if the presidential candidate of their choice does not win.