ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Friday, May 10, 1996                   TAG: 9605100079
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL   PAGE: A-8  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: KAMPALA, UGANDA

UGANDANS VOTING FOR PRESIDENT

For the first time since gaining independence 34 years ago, Ugandans voted for a president Thursday. The incumbent who shot his way to power a decade ago was expected to win.

Voters waited in long, snaking lines to cast their ballots in an election that moves the East African nation a step toward fuller democracy and away from a murderous past.

President Yoweri Museveni, who ended two decades of terror under dictators Idi Amin and Milton Obote by seizing power 1986, was expected to easily fend off veteran politician Paul Ssemogerere and university professor Muhammad Mayanja.

The election was the first time Ugandans voted directly for a president since gaining independence from Britain in 1962.

- Associated Press

LENGTH: Short :   27 lines