Activists want campaign funding regulated

By Emmanuel Luganda & Michael Odeng 

CIVIL Society Activists have asked Parliament to put a law in place which would determine how much an aspiring Member of Parliament should spend during the election campaigns to curb voter bribery.

Cissy Kagaba, the executive director Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda (ACCU) argued that limiting the campaign funding would reduce voter bribery and inflation. 

"The law will help to limit the amount of money spent during the campaigns which will help to combat voter bribery and inflation," Kagaba argued. 

She added that it is difficult for one to stand as Member of Parliament if he/she has no finances to bribe the voters in return for their support. 

"Elections have been commercialized which has created a leadership vacuum since money minded people are the ones elected because they have money. Someone is elected not because of the capacity but how much he offered during the campaigns," she added. 

Henry Muguzi, a National Coordinator Alliance for Campaign Finance Monitoring, questioned the independence of Parliament. 

In September, MPs were re-called to consider a government motion of creating new districts and each MP received sh10m in allowances. 

"Much as Members of Parliament justified these payments as 'disturbance allowances' during their recess, we strongly believe that they have a moral responsibility of representing Ugandans. We therefore condemn MPs for receiving this money. More so, there is no law or policy that provides for 'disturbance allowance'," Muguzi explained. 

Francis Ekadu, programs coordinator Transparency International wondered why such payments are done when the country is nearing the 2016 general elections arguing that it could be election funding disguised as allowances. 

"Such allowances contribute to commercialization of politics in the country," Ekadu stated.  

Efforts to get a comment from Electoral Commission Secretary Sam Rwakoojo were futile as he did not pick his phone calls.