This past Wednesday I marched into the Sheraton in Kampala and announced to the receptionist that I am there to vote in the presidential elections of Finland. She looked first bemused, then slightly amused, and gave me a top floor room number.

When I got in, the ambassador and his co-worker (who'd both flown from the nearest embassy in Nairobi) seemed very energised. I was the first voter in Uganda, and they had been slumbering on the sofa, watching CNN. I was handed the ballot and directed into the bedroom, where the voting station was located by the night table. I sealed the ballot in an envelope and addressed it to the election board in Tampere.

The ambassador complained about the hotel. He had had to switch to a new room after nothing had worked in the previous one. The night before, he had bumped into a door in the dark and bruised his lip because the lights didn't work. He had become familiar with the Ugandan brand of service, which often consists of apologies and smiles with no action. "First time for me in a Sheraton like this". Then we talked about the state of democracy in the country. He was rightly concerned that cutting aid because of the recent developments will only make matters worse. The elite, against whom the action is ostensibly directed, will never suffer from it. It is questionable, we agreed, whether western-style multi-partyism works in a society divided along tribal lines.

It is certainly hard to imagine both corruption and democracy thriving simultaneously.

There were some more voters, and the room was getting crowded. On my way out I met an elderly couple who live just outside Kampala. They are leaving in February, before the elections in Uganda. Apparently I also have my nationality written on my face, since the man asked me about the right room, in Finnish, immediately after stepping from the elevator. 08:53