Uneb to charge aspirants for document verification
Mr Dan Odongo
Kampala- All aspirants who are planning to contest in the 2021 General Election are required to pay between Shs50,000 and Shs100,000 to Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) to have their academic documents verified.
According to the guidelines that were issued yesterday by Mr Dan Odongo, the Uneb executive secretary, the aspirants are supposed to present a letter of their verified academic documents to be able to run for elective positions.
“The Presidential Elections Act 2005, the Parliamentary Elections Act and Local Government Act requires that all prospective aspirants, who wish to contest for those positions should have completed a minimum formal education of Advanced Level standard by Uneb or its equivalent. We have thus started receiving the online application for this,” Mr Odongo said in a statement.
Mr Odongo also said the aspirants slated to apply for the verification letters must possess an introductory letter from their respective schools.
He added that they should submit copies of their certificates to be verified and a copy of their national identity card with its original.
According to the Electoral Commission (EC), it is mandatory for all aspirants to possess a minimum formal education of A-Level or its equivalent, and are supposed to submit the certified copies two months before nominations.
Aspirants whose academic qualifications are equivalent to A-Level, or were obtained outside Uganda are slated to establish such qualification by producing a certificate issued to them by the National Council for Higher Education in consultation with Uneb.
Meanwhile, aspirants whose documents have been verified before but wish to verify for the forthcoming elections are slated to present a copy of a letter that Uneb previously wrote to the EC.
Mr Odongo said such a person does not need an introduction letter from their schools.
He said under the online registration, a person is given a form indicating the fees he or she is slated to pay upon registration.
Those who are not comfortable with online registration have up to May to deliver their hard copies.
Mr Odongo said the deadline for handing in hard copies for local government positions is April 15 while those for presidential and parliamentary seats have up to May 15.
When contacted about the fees each aspirant is slated to pay for verification, Ms Jenipher Kalule, the spokesperson of Uneb, referred us to their online portal.
According to the online fees for the verification of documents, one has to pay Shs50,000 for an ordinary letter and Shs100,000 for a hard card that serves as substitute for a certificate.
