Electoral Commission conducts elections in seven districts

POLITICS  ELECTIONS

The Electoral Commission (EC) is conducting residual elections for LC5 interim chairpersons and councilors in the newly created seven districts today.

The districts, which came into effect last month, include; Madi-Okollo, Karenga, Kalaki, Kitagwenda, Kazo, Rwampara and Obongi.

The electoral body is also holding residual elections for the LCI chairpersons in 149 villages and 12 parishes today.

In these villages where residual elections are being conducted, the candidates in the July 10, 2018, LCI polls, got the same number of votes. Uganda had held the previous LCI elections 15 years earlier.

The interim district chairpersons to be elected today will hold offices until the 2021 general elections.

The EC issued a roadmap for the next general polls last December and has embarked on a number of electoral activities ahead of the elections.

Nearly eight months since EC launched the roadmap for the 2021 general elections, the electoral body said recently that it will hold the polls with or without the proposed reforms.

The Supreme Court in a 2016 presidential election petition ruling proposed ten reforms, including amending the time of filling and determining the petition, nature of evidence required, time for holding elections, the use of technology and unequal access to the state-owned media.

The political parties had earlier proposed to Parliament a raft of electoral reforms, including reinstatement of presidential term limits, constitution of an independent electoral body, withdrawing military representation from the House, and limiting the access of the incumbent president to state resources during electioneering.

Recently, the Opposition added new proposals, including introduction of federal governments, the inclusion of presidential candidates who secure 10% of the votes as ex-officials in Parliament and reducing the size of Cabinet to not more than 21 ministers. The EC, too, submitted proposed reforms to the attorney general.

In May, the attorney general, William Byaruhanga, said the electoral reforms proposals would be tabled in Bills (amending the existing electoral laws) in the House in about ten days' time. Two months later, the Bills have not been tabled.