Elections 2011: Appreciate the power of your vote
Dec 23, 2010
THE past few months have witnessed the launch of brand and grand civic engagement initiatives ahead of next year’s election. The launch of the citizens’ manifesto, the ‘honour your vote’ campaign by the Citizens Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda, provocative opinion poll surveys an
By Crispy Kaheru
THE past few months have witnessed the launch of brand and grand civic engagement initiatives ahead of next year’s election. The launch of the citizens’ manifesto, the ‘honour your vote’ campaign by the Citizens Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda, provocative opinion poll surveys and reports are just a few of the grand works that election stakeholders have been pre-occupied with.
These and many other inspiring projects have been conceptualised and articulated in well written documents. However, the persistent challenge as judged from the past is to ensure that the people who these projects are supposed to inspire, guide or better still re-awaken, get to know and interact with the information therein at a more practical level.
All the initiatives that I have just highlighted underscore the importance of elections in a democracy and more importantly the central position of citizens in the entire process. Recent national elections have seen a drop in the voter turn-out. This has been attributed to a number of reasons including apathy, fatigue, insufficient information and a general lack of motivation.
To a considerable level, these issues are being addressed by the recent governmental and civil society programming efforts to help citizens understand the importance of their vote, voting and how their involvement in the electoral process makes a difference.
The past months have also witnessed the launch of an aggressive voter education and broad-based outreach programmes including, voter education forums in the rural areas, voter education caravans in urban and sub-urban areas, musical performances, media programmes, and web-based voter education initiatives.
The ultimate is to underscore the importance of each citizen’s vote as something that remains precious and cannot be valued in monetary or material terms. With all the publicity around the subject, it would be shameful if an election comes and passes without one utilising this highly coveted, invaluable weapon called the vote.
There is an immense need to depart from the common thinking that just one vote does not matter; a number of instances have proven the enormous power of a single vote. There are many citations of where the course of a nation has been changed just by an individual ballot cast or not cast. In 1868 for instance, one vote in the US Senate saved President Andrew Johnson from impeachment.
While we take the electoral process for granted here in Uganda, there are some countries that have not yet embraced democratic systems in both theory and practice. This means that the citizens in these countries have no freedom to exercise their right to vote as we do here in Uganda.
In order to understand the value of voting, look at it this way, when you vote you are deciding on: the kind of roads you want to have, the school system for your children, the tax rates, the kind of health care you receive, the nature of land policies, employment opportunities and clean water in your community.
The issue of contention, therefore, should not be about voting or not voting but which candidate presents the best plan to address those issues that are of significant importance to you and your family. The citizens have a big responsibility to vote for the right people in the office who will tackle the challenges that currently prevail.
As we take time off to enjoy the festive season, let us not only use this period to reflect on the kind of leadership that we would like but also carefully study the candidates’ stances on different issues. We need to remember that we have the Uganda we want in our hands. It is the vote that you and I have. It is time to honour each of our votes to transform our country.
The writer is the project coordinator for the Citizens’ Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda
THE past few months have witnessed the launch of brand and grand civic engagement initiatives ahead of next year’s election. The launch of the citizens’ manifesto, the ‘honour your vote’ campaign by the Citizens Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda, provocative opinion poll surveys and reports are just a few of the grand works that election stakeholders have been pre-occupied with.
These and many other inspiring projects have been conceptualised and articulated in well written documents. However, the persistent challenge as judged from the past is to ensure that the people who these projects are supposed to inspire, guide or better still re-awaken, get to know and interact with the information therein at a more practical level.
All the initiatives that I have just highlighted underscore the importance of elections in a democracy and more importantly the central position of citizens in the entire process. Recent national elections have seen a drop in the voter turn-out. This has been attributed to a number of reasons including apathy, fatigue, insufficient information and a general lack of motivation.
To a considerable level, these issues are being addressed by the recent governmental and civil society programming efforts to help citizens understand the importance of their vote, voting and how their involvement in the electoral process makes a difference.
The past months have also witnessed the launch of an aggressive voter education and broad-based outreach programmes including, voter education forums in the rural areas, voter education caravans in urban and sub-urban areas, musical performances, media programmes, and web-based voter education initiatives.
The ultimate is to underscore the importance of each citizen’s vote as something that remains precious and cannot be valued in monetary or material terms. With all the publicity around the subject, it would be shameful if an election comes and passes without one utilising this highly coveted, invaluable weapon called the vote.
There is an immense need to depart from the common thinking that just one vote does not matter; a number of instances have proven the enormous power of a single vote. There are many citations of where the course of a nation has been changed just by an individual ballot cast or not cast. In 1868 for instance, one vote in the US Senate saved President Andrew Johnson from impeachment.
While we take the electoral process for granted here in Uganda, there are some countries that have not yet embraced democratic systems in both theory and practice. This means that the citizens in these countries have no freedom to exercise their right to vote as we do here in Uganda.
In order to understand the value of voting, look at it this way, when you vote you are deciding on: the kind of roads you want to have, the school system for your children, the tax rates, the kind of health care you receive, the nature of land policies, employment opportunities and clean water in your community.
The issue of contention, therefore, should not be about voting or not voting but which candidate presents the best plan to address those issues that are of significant importance to you and your family. The citizens have a big responsibility to vote for the right people in the office who will tackle the challenges that currently prevail.
As we take time off to enjoy the festive season, let us not only use this period to reflect on the kind of leadership that we would like but also carefully study the candidates’ stances on different issues. We need to remember that we have the Uganda we want in our hands. It is the vote that you and I have. It is time to honour each of our votes to transform our country.
The writer is the project coordinator for the Citizens’ Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda