Govt responsible for electoral mess

By John KakandeHAJJI Aziz Kasujja and the Electoral Commission (EC) have come under fire both from enraged voters, top Government officials and politicians over the LC 3 election fiasco. The commission owes the voters and the entire country an apology and categorical explanation for its failure to organise and conduct, as it is required by the Constitution, free and fair elections for the chairpersons and councillors of the sub-counties, town councils and Municipal Divisions.But in all fairness, Kasujja should not be crucified even for the sins of other actors. The Government must also be blamed for the mess. One of Kasujja’s big problems is his failure to put his case to the public. Kasujja, probably because of his background as a banker, has alienated himself from the press. Kasujja, unlike his predecessor, Steven Akabway, seems to regard the press as an enemy who must be avoided. Akabway, a former teacher was a press-friendly person who regularly spoke to the press although he often insisted on being electronically recorded and quoted. Kasujja must, first and foremost, improve his relations with the press if he wants to redeem the battered image of the Commission. Sacking Kasujja may not be the solution. There is need for a thorough investigation of the problems affecting the Electoral Commission before any action is taken. The presidential and parliamentary elections were equally marred by irregularities. The Constitutional Court, while hearing the petition filed by former presidential candidate Col. Dr Kizza Besigye, revealed a lot of dirt in our electoral process, but Government never took any action to ensure future elections are free and fair. The Commission was not prepared for the January 4 polls. The only reason the Commission did not postpone the LC 3 elections was because it had a January 5 Constitutional deadline. As one of the last-minute measures taken to beat the Constitutional deadline, the Electoral Commission Act was hurriedly amended by Parliament on December 13, 2001, to reduce the period for the display of the National Voters Roll to 10 days from 21 days.The amendment was effected just three weeks to polling day! The LC 3 polls were marred by the late delivery of the election materials. The Commission apparently failed to make the new national voters register early enough. This in turn was caused by failure by the Commission to implement the photographic voter cards project. Both the Government and Commission did not know that processing photographic voter cards was complicated and needed a lot of money and time. The Government has also messed up the Commission. The necessary electoral laws are never put in place in time. There is feeling that the delay to enact the electoral laws is a deliberate tactic to deny opposition candidates enough time. The Constitution fixed the period when the presidential, parliamentary and local government elections must be held. Why are electoral laws persistently enacted late? Parliament cannot be blamed because the bills originate from the executive.Government must also be blamed for not funding the Commission adequately.