Election Day: All hands on deck in Kawempe

Considering what has transpired in Kawempe North in that past two weeks, every possible help is needed to ensure today’s by-election is peaceful and credible.

Stakeholders-voters, candidates, polling agents and officials, security personnel, humanitarian workers, religious leaders should do whatever they can to ensure voters cast their ballots without coercion, intimidation and the results released in a conducive environment.

Some of the security personnel have been accused of beating up supporters of mainly the Opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) during the campaigns and journalists have not been spared.

Journalists Miracle Ibrahim, Stephen Kibwiika and Stephen Mbidde were clobbered while on duty. Like we have said in the past, journalism is not crime.

NUP candidate Elias Luyimbazi Nalukoola and his supporters have had a rough time with the security personnel, whom he accused of destroying his car, academic papers and phone on Tuesday on his way to Komamboga Playground for his final campaign.

The Constitution stipulates that Ugandans above 18 years old have the right to vote, and that citizens have the right to freedom of speech and expression. It also cites freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment as a non-derogable human right.

For starters, the Electoral Commission must fulfil its mandate of holding regular, free, fair and credible elections. It must ensure polling materials are available at the 197 polling stations, polling stations open at 7am, the prescribed time, and close at 4pm or until the last person in the queue by 4pm cast their votes and there will be adequate security at the polling stations during and after polling and announcement of results.

During the pre-polling press briefing yesterday, the returning officer for Kawempe North said the electoral body is ready to hold the election today. The returning officer urged stakeholders, including polling officials and law enforcement officers to comply with the law.

The Commission’s chairperson Simon Byabakama noted that 10 candidates have been nominated to replace Muhammad Ssegirinya who died on January 9 and asked all stakeholders to be law abiding.

He noted that at the start of the campaigns, there was a violent exchange between security personnel and NUP candidate’s supporters and that the Commission engaged the parties involved to devise ways to avoid an occurrence of such incidents. Clearly, the ways devised did not eliminate violence during the campaigns, with much blamed heaped on masked and unidentified personnel attached to the Joint Anti-Terrorist Task Force (JATT).

For the Kawempe North by-election to be fair, free from violence and fraud, among others, key stakeholders must abide by the law and assist where necessary to facilitate the exercise.