Ensuring peaceful elections is a responsibility for all
Jan 18, 2006
THE general elections are around the corner. To be specific, it is five weeks to go. Whereas the general view is that the government has the responsibility of ensuring a peaceful electoral process, I believe all political players and the voters themselves have a role to play.
Stephen Kalyegira
THE general elections are around the corner. To be specific, it is five weeks to go. Whereas the general view is that the government has the responsibility of ensuring a peaceful electoral process, I believe all political players and the voters themselves have a role to play.
There have been a number of comments regarding the role of the military in elections. Since 1986, it has not been easy to remove the military from politics because a number of government officials have military background.
But 20 years down the road, and given the fact that the country has gone multiparty, the issue of the army in politics should finally be sorted once and for all. It was very good for our country’s security and defence chiefs to come together and launch a code of conduct for their personnel during elections.
Let the military chiefs go ahead to ensure that the code of conduct is adhered to. Those who try to go against it should face the law of the land. Lack of interference in politics by the army would go further in showing the country that our army has grown and that the talk of professionalising the institution was not hot air.
Another important aspect to focus on during elections is the trading of insults by politicians. The candidates should learn to take their manifestoes with a lot of seriousness. It has become common for candidates to hit the campaign trail and endlessly focus on petty issues with total disregard of their programmes of action (if any). I think that when the political heads start using abusive language, they are not only sowing seeds of violence among voters but also showing their lack of seriousness and capability to lead. Voters look at the candidates as torch-bearers for guidance and advice. Whenever the candidates fail to tackle issues affecting the masses and turn to name calling, the voters will do exactly the same and efforts to have a non-violent campaign will bear no fruit.
Ugandans would love to see all the five presidential candidates attending the swearing-in ceremony of the president-elect in May. Losers should genuinely and happily shake hands with the winner after accepting defeat and describing the whole process as having been free and fair.
It is time for all Ugandans to know that we all have a role to play in the electoral process and that it’s the way we conduct ourselves in the campaigns that will determine the direction of the exercise.
The writer is a
citizen of Uganda
THE general elections are around the corner. To be specific, it is five weeks to go. Whereas the general view is that the government has the responsibility of ensuring a peaceful electoral process, I believe all political players and the voters themselves have a role to play.
There have been a number of comments regarding the role of the military in elections. Since 1986, it has not been easy to remove the military from politics because a number of government officials have military background.
But 20 years down the road, and given the fact that the country has gone multiparty, the issue of the army in politics should finally be sorted once and for all. It was very good for our country’s security and defence chiefs to come together and launch a code of conduct for their personnel during elections.
Let the military chiefs go ahead to ensure that the code of conduct is adhered to. Those who try to go against it should face the law of the land. Lack of interference in politics by the army would go further in showing the country that our army has grown and that the talk of professionalising the institution was not hot air.
Another important aspect to focus on during elections is the trading of insults by politicians. The candidates should learn to take their manifestoes with a lot of seriousness. It has become common for candidates to hit the campaign trail and endlessly focus on petty issues with total disregard of their programmes of action (if any). I think that when the political heads start using abusive language, they are not only sowing seeds of violence among voters but also showing their lack of seriousness and capability to lead. Voters look at the candidates as torch-bearers for guidance and advice. Whenever the candidates fail to tackle issues affecting the masses and turn to name calling, the voters will do exactly the same and efforts to have a non-violent campaign will bear no fruit.
Ugandans would love to see all the five presidential candidates attending the swearing-in ceremony of the president-elect in May. Losers should genuinely and happily shake hands with the winner after accepting defeat and describing the whole process as having been free and fair.
It is time for all Ugandans to know that we all have a role to play in the electoral process and that it’s the way we conduct ourselves in the campaigns that will determine the direction of the exercise.
The writer is a
citizen of Uganda