Kasese political leaders ask for extension of nomination days

KASESE - Leaders of the various political parties in Kasese district have suggested to the Electoral Commission to extend the nomination dates for the elective positions in the Local Government Councils. 

The Electoral Commission set September 3 to 5 as the dates for the nominations of the District Chairpersons and Councillors, 8-10 for City and Municipal Mayors while from September 11 to 24 will be for the lower local government councils.

But the political leaders who were yesterday September 1 monitoring the exercise that is ongoing at Mult- purpose hall in Kasese Municipality, observed that the scheduled dates are limited following the number of people seeking nomination so that they are enabled to participate in the 2026 General Elections as well as the slow pace of the entire process.

Robert Franco Centenary, the Vice Chairperson for the Forum for Democratic Change in charge of the Western region, argues that the digital machinery that the Electoral Commission has adopted is slow, hence hindering the officers from conveniently handling the verification of documents of candidates. 

Centenary, who wanted to aspire for the position of Member of Parliament for Kasese Municipality, said that he is one of the victims who wanted to verify his particulars, but the system did not capture him due to the alleged network errors, hence prompting him to call for the extension of the exercise.

"People are very desperate and might end up being rowdy," Centenary said.

Saulo Maate, the Chairperson for the People’s Front for Freedom in Kasese district, unveiled that the verification exercise for the Chairpersons and their respective councillors is a tiresome work that cannot be done in three days, especially in large Districts like Kasese.

"The district has 44 lower local governments. I don't see any possibility of the exercise getting done in just two days." Maate said.

Jackson Mbaju Kathika, the Mobilizer for the National Unity Platform in the Rwenzori sub-region, expressed concern that most of the contenders would miss the exercise due to limited time. 

EC officials respond

The Mid-Western Regional Election Officer, Ismeal Atwijukire Takih, explained that the scheduled dates are enough to have all the people seeking nominations worked upon, regardless of the huge numbers of people who have turned up for the exercise.

"The system is now faster and we shall not leave anyone unattended too," Atwijukire said.

He, however, advised the candidates to collect as many signatures as they can from the voters so that they can have surplus in case some are rejected in the system.