Ruhaama polling officials accuse EC of delaying facilitation

Mr Richard Mutungi, the presiding officer at Kashasha playground polling station in Itojo Sub County. Photo by Felix Aineboona

What you need to know:

  • Mr Robert Baine, the district returning officer confirmed that the polling officials had not received the facilitation.
  • Generally there has been low voter turnout in today's Ruhaama county by-election.

Polling officials in the Ruhaama County by-election have accused the Electoral Commission of delaying their facilitation.
The officials say they have not received a single coin as facilitation since the start of the election process.

"The problem is that they delayed our facilitation since the start of the Ruhaama country by-election process. We displayed registers, but they have not paid us anything. So far I have used Shs100, 000 to do EC work but they have not paid back,” said Richard Mutungi the presiding officer at Kashasha playground polling station in Itojo Sub County.

He added; “As the presiding officer, today I have again used my own money to transport voting materials and I also do not know if they will pay back."

Mr Robert Baine, the district returning officer confirmed that the polling officials had not received the facilitation.

“You see the ministry of finance introduce e-cash system in which the money has to be paid to the individual directly, so this issue of driving to each polling station giving out facilitation money is no more. They will have to wait for their money after the election,” Mr Baine said.

Low voter turnout
Generally there has been low voter turnout in today's Ruhaama county by-election.
At Ruhanga SDA primary school polling station, voting started at 9.30am because there were no security personnel at the polling station despite the voting materials reaching at 5.00am.

The presiding officer Osbert Tuhamye said that some voters went back in frustration over the delay but he could not open the voting without a security officer.

Ruhanga SDA primary school polling station has 485 registered voters, but only 31 had cast their votes by 10.52am.
At 12:37pm polling officials at Nyakibubo primary school polling station were seen looking idle as voters were nowhere to be seen.
Out of 353 registered voters at this polling station, only 112 had cast their votes by 1.00pm.

This reporter interacted with some residents of Nyakibubo village in Buhama parish who told him that they were not going to vote because the Shs250, 000 president Museveni sent to each village did not reach theirs.

They however promised that if they happen to receive the money before the close of the polls, they would definitely go cast their vote.