Commissioners should resign

By John Kakande THE Supreme Court, by a three against two-majority decision, on Saturday dismissed the petition filed by Col. Dr Kizza Besigye, challenging the election of President Yoweri Museveni. Although Besigye lost the court battle, the country has gained in many respects. The country's highest court has set very clear and firm standards by which future national elections, besides the presidential election, will and must be conducted. The petition was in essence a judicial review of the electoral process and election management in the country, which has been a matter of serious concern to many people including Museveni. The Supreme Court stated that the Electoral Commission team headed by Haji Aziz Kasujja, did a lousy job. The Court found that the Commission did not comply with the Presidential Elections Act. In some areas, the principle of free and fair election was compromised while in the special polling stations for soldiers; the principle of transparency was not applied. The Court found that in "a significant number of polling stations there was cheating." The Electoral Commission's credibility has been battered. The Electoral Commissioners should either voluntarily quit or be removed for failure to manage the election, which led to the litigation. Article 60 (8) of the Constitution gives powers to the President to fire a Commissioner for incompetence. The Commission exhibited gross incompetence in the just concluded election. Even without the Court ruling, it was evident that the Commission miserably failed to manage the presidential election process in an organised manner. The Court ruling has clarified a number of contentious issues in the electoral process. Since the 1994 Constituent Assembly elections, there have been some persistent contentious issues, which have plagued the electoral process. The contentious issues have related to voting by the soldiers, the compilation and accessibility of the voters' rolls and establishment of the polling stations. It has been common practice since 1994 for the EC to establish new polling stations on the eve of the polling day. The Court has categorically affirmed that the polling stations, according to the law, should have been published in the Gazette 14 days "prior" to nomination of candidates. This therefore means that as long as the election law remains the way it is, the EC will never again in any future election create new polling stations on the eve of polling day. Candidates even in parliamentary and local government elections have had problem accessing the voters' rolls. It appears the EC, has treated the voters rolls as a 'classified document' that must have never been made public. In recent election, the final voters roll was purportedly not available up to the polling day. The Court had affirmed that failure by the EC to avail Col. Besigye with a copy of the voters register was a contravention of the election law. This means that in future elections, if the election law is not changed, the EC will be obliged to avail the candidates with copies of the voters' register on demand and on payment of a fee. Ends