EC explains 14 broken seals on ballot boxes 

Locals offload voting materials that were delivered by the Electoral Commission to Koboko District headquarters yesterday. PHOTO/RASHUL ADIDI

KOBOKO- Koboko District yesterday received 190 voting materials for presidential and parliamentary elections but 14 boxes had broken seals. 

 Those who showed up to witness the delivery of the election materials raised queries but the district Electoral Commission (EC) returning officer, Mr Ezale Osuman, said the materials were still safe despite the broken seals.

“Of the 190 boxes we received, 14 had broken white seals. It is only the white ones which were broken but not the orange seals,” he said.

Mr Ezale said five of the seals were broken in transit while nine were broken as the black boxes were being offloaded on arrival in Koboko. The boxes were, however, replaced immediately in the presence of the stakeholders and police before taking them to the stores.
  
He said the 190 boxes of presidential and parliamentary elections match the total number of polling stations in the district.
Mr Ezale further said the district EC office was expecting other election materials before end of the week.

Koboko District Police Commander Samuel Abwang said: “We are going to beef up security of this place until the end of the electoral process. I will encourage anyone who is not part of this place not to come here unless you come here on a particular call by either the commissioner on knowledge of security.”

 Ms Lucy Afako, the NRM chairperson of Koboko, said: “By witnessing the delivery of the election material, I am happy. This shows transparency in the Commission and this has given us hope that the elections will be conducted.”

According to the district EC register, Koboko has 89,000 voters and 190 polling stations.
 Uganda will go to the polls  on January 14 next week.