FDC faults EC over polling station shortage in Kawempe

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The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) has challenged the Electoral Commission (EC) for failing to create more polling stations in Kawempe North Constituency to address concerns of voter disenfranchisement and election rigging ahead of a byelection scheduled for March 13, 2025.

Despite Kawempe having only 197 polling stations with 53,190 registered voters, only 30% can cast their ballots within the provided voting time if the status quo remains unchanged, John Kikonyogo, the FDC spokesperson, said.

FDC, which hit Kikaaya campaign ground running with its musician-turned-political candidate, Sadaat Mukiibi aka Khalifa Aganaga, to replace the fallen area legislator Mohammad Ssegirinya on Monday, criticised the EC, saying that this will create long voting queues that discourage voters from casting their ballots as required by law.

“The National Resistance Movement (NRM) government under President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has been using the trick of demarcating some polling stations with a thousand voters who can’t cast their votes within the limited nine (9) hours provided from 7am to 4pm before counting results.”

While addressing the weekly press conference at Najjanankumbi party headquarters on Monday, March 3, Kikonyogo said that efforts to compel the EC to create more polling stations were ignored by the ‘partisan EC', which only comes to give a ‘low voter turn-up report’ after elections—excuses he said should be dismissed.

“In Kawempe, Kisalosalo Kyebando Vocational Training Centre polling station has 1,021 voters registered. In Kikaaya, Kampala Quality Primary School (N-Z) polling stations have 1,099 voters. How are those people supposed to vote within the limited time provided by the EC?” Kikonyogo said, quoting the 2021 general elections packing list.

At Kacungwa ground polling station in Komamboga (A-Luo), 1,002 voters were recorded, and this was a similar case at Namwandu Nkoyoyo’s Home (Nal-Nas) polling station, where 1,001 voters were recorded, he added.

“This scenario, if not checked, shall affect the final results in a substantial manner and is going to create voter suppression, ballot stuffing, tampering with voter equipment, and voter bribery, which have been recorded in the 2006, 2011, 2016, and 2021 general elections,” he observed.

“In the 2016 elections, many polling stations that had over 1,000 voters were found to have registered a 100% voter turn-up, especially in Kiruhura and Kisoro districts and parts of Ankole, which could not be verified within the 9-hour stipulated time for voters to cast their ballots,” he insisted.

Kikonyogo suggested that only 500 voters should be allocated to each polling station if the NRM government had the will to ensure a fair and accessible electoral process for democracy to prevail.

The EC has been criticised for creating new polling stations in areas that favour certain candidates or parties, which he argued is a form of election rigging.

EC responds

The EC spokesperson, Julius Mucunguzi, said that the commission always organises polling stations to avoid overcrowding and chaos at polling stations.

“The commission has a threshold of the number of voters per polling station for both urban and upcountry polling stations, which are different. For urban areas and congested areas, the commission only allows 1,200 people, and for upcountry polling stations, they allow up to 800 voters, so that allegation is baseless,” he said.

“So, the one thousand allocated to different polling stations is within the range of urban centres, and we believe that the hours allocated for them are convenient for that,” he clarified.

According to the Electoral Commission, polling stations are established and operated under Section 12(1)(d) of the Electoral Commission Act. The commission also ensures that each polling station has a compiled voters’ roll and that only individuals listed on the roll are entitled to vote.

The EC has previously released lists of polling stations for elections, including the 2024 election, which had a total of 40,647 main polling stations and 328 designated for special voting. However, the FDC's concerns highlight the need for transparency and accountability in the creation of new polling stations to ensure free and fair elections.