We are ready for 18 million voters - EC

Elections roadmap. The Ugandan Electoral Commission launched a five-year strategic plan that includes the 2016 election roadmap. Risdel Kasasira talked to the Commission’s chairman, Dr Badru Kiggundu, on how they plan to achieve this plan in order to have free and fair election.

1. You have launched a strategic plan that includes the 2016 election roadmap. What are the key issues you are looking at that will make 2016 elections free and fair?

We are looking at what was good and bad in the previous elections and from that collection, inclusive of recommendations from election observers, we defined five pillars, one of which is institutional strengthening. This includes capacity enhancement. The other one is preparing the national register which we need to improve compared to the previous one.
We will start voter education early and also develop an interacting system with the stakeholders in order to avoid what went wrong in the previous elections.

2.What was bad about the previous elections?
One of the issues which people, including our stakeholders, were complaining about was the absence of an identity or voter’s card.
But we thought that was not too cardinal because the information on an identity card, would be the same information on the register. We felt that the description on the register would certainly suffice to identify the voter.
This additional ID, yes, it’s good but it also calls for resources. We still have a myriad of cards in our stores.
From the photographic data system we had, voters never collected these cards. Even when we tried to distribute them during the display times by sending stacks and stacks to every district, where we had a by-election, voters didn’t pick them. We even had to advertise and announce in the media, telling the voters to pick these cards, not even 20 percent was collected.
What does that tell you? It shows that these cards were of no value to them. If the government had attached a social value to those cards, then there would be craving for them. We think that the best ID is not the one made by Local Council because they can easily be forged. But we can take advantage of national identity cards if the resources are available. We pray and hope that the Ministry of Internal Affairs will have them ready by the time we need them. This will save us costs.
The last register we had, which we still have, has 450,000 voters who are captured on a biometric system, out of nine million but we want to have all the voters on the biometric system in the next general elections.

3. When do you hope to start installing the biometric data system and how much money do you need to organise the elections?

We have already started, because everywhere, we have by-elections, that’s the register we use. We will just update the system. We are working with the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Other than the component of biometrical system, we will need Shs1.3 trillion. That’s for the entire five-year strategic plan.

4. What do you tell those who say that you are partisan and, therefore, the Electoral Commission cannot organise a free and fair election?

I always take a laugh at that and I will continue doing that because it’s the individuals who are assigned to do the duties that matter. I don’t think we have played a partisan role ever since we have been here. Whenever we hold an election or by-election, we don’t care who wins.
All we do is to take ballots which have been cast and at the end, whether it’s Mr X or Ms Y, it doesn’t matter where she or he is coming from. Why? Because the country resolved through a referendum on July 27, 2005 that we go multiparty and everybody is free to have a choice and be affiliated politically.
Once you choose a political direction, what am I to do to control that? We respect and honour people’s choices. We don’t favour anyone. As long as people make choices, the rest is inconsequential. We have not played a partisan role. An opinion is in the eyes of the beholder and usually an opinion is usually the cheapest commodity because everyone has an opinion.

5. During the previous elections, we had 14 million registered voters. How many voters are you looking at during 2016?

There are many that have come of age since 2011. We anticipate about 18 million voters in 2016. But they could be more. We sit here and juggle figures and make estimates before we start real registration. The population of Uganda is growing and that means the number of voters is also growing.

6. What are the good practices that you think Uganda can learn from the recent elections?

The media in Kenya was as if they were born by the same mother. They were all coherent on the issues like nationhood. Everyone was saying Kenya, Kenya, Kenya is our country and we must keep united. No one was intransigent. They were overzealous.
The love for their country maybe as a result of troubled experience they got in 2007. We must learn to love and respect our country. We must learn to respect each other and politicians should respect rules set by the Electoral Commission. We must respect and learn to leave the EC to run the elections. Let the institution play its role. If you are aggrieved in any way, run to the courts of law.
Don’t uproot the railway like Kenyans did in 2007. This time, those terrible acts weren’t there. I salute Honourable Raila Odinga. He decided to go to Court and the court had its verdict. That was good and it was the first time having this experience.

7. Isn’t it a false sense of nationhood to talk about a united Kenya when tribes determine the Kenyan vote?

Well, whether you look at it as a false sense of nationhood or not, as long as they go on the streets, saying Kenya is number one and there is no violence, that’s a good sign that there is something that connects them and that’s Kenya.