2021 Polls: EC warns against malpractices

ELECTION WATCH|POLITICS|MALPRACTICES|EC

KAMPALA - The Electoral Commission (EC) has said it will not tolerate any violence and other electoral-related malpractices in the next year's general election.

Stephen Tashobya, a member of the EC, said this time, the commission will follow up on all the candidates cited committing violence and malpractices at local government and parliamentary levels, to ensure they are prosecuted.

"Ignorance of the law is no excuse; many candidates assume that laws that govern the elections do not exist. We have laws, such as those that bar bribing of voters, practising sectarian tendencies, abusing others, use of malicious words and defacing posters.

"Many countries are copying our laws and they are being implemented. It is high time that law implementers did their work in Uganda. If you commit such, we shall make sure you are arrested and you will serve as an example to the rest," Tashobya said.

He said the EC has discovered that the main factor fuelling violence and electoral malpractices is the mentality that politics is a source of wealth and employment.

Tashobya said the cases of violence during the NRM primaries "are a testimony that we are falling short of the public's expectations of a free, transparent and credible elections."

Tashobya made the remarks while presiding over the national consultative meeting on elections for human rights defenders and advocates at Hotel Africana in Kampala, on Friday.

The meeting, organised by the Legal Aid Service Providers' Network in Uganda and the Democratic Governance Facility was attended by lawyers, journalists and politicians.

"It has become a ‘do or die' situation; some have a false belief that joining politics in Uganda is a passport to getting free money. In the recent NRM primaries, we witnessed many people fighting because they expect quick wealth,"Tashobya said. 

Tashobya said the EC would conduct a massive civic education for voters, security agencies and aspirants.

"We shall also teach the candidates about the roles of the various positions, such as the MPs. Legislators are not obliged to construct or repair roads and bridges in their constituencies. Neither do they have to build hospitals or schools," he said.

Peter Magera urged fellow human rights defenders to be on high alert in the 2021 elections. He asked journalists to take care of their lives and gadgets when covering the general election.