IPOD, EC meet over suspension of political meetings

Kampala, Uganda |  THE INDEPENDENT | Political parties organized under the Inter-Party Organization for Dialogue-IPOD have asked the Electoral Commission to explain how they shall conduct Political activities like training agents in districts where political activities were banned.  

The Commission suspended Political activities in districts of Kampala, Wakiso, Luwero, Kalungu, Mbarara District and City, Kabarole District including Fort Portal City, Masaka, Jinja, Tororo, Kazo, Kasese and the districts of Buikwe, Buvuma, Mukono and Kayunga which were all classified as super-spreaders of COVID-19.

The commission recommended that candidates use media and public address systems to reach voters. But the National Resistance Movement-NRM Secretary General Justine Kasule Lumumba, now holding the portfolio of the Chairperson of the IPOD Council of Secretaries says they want the Commission to guide them on how to train their agents ahead of polling day. 

Lumumba told a press conference at the Commission headquarters in Kampala after a meeting with the commission chairperson and other officials, that they also asked the Commission to come out with clear Standard Operating Procedures for polling stations especially on the issue of voters staying after casting their ballot.  

She says that while the law permits voters to stay at polling stations, keeping 20 meters away from the cordoned voting area, the practice raised a concern amidst a pandemic. The parties are concerned that the voters might not maintain the required 2-meter physical distance in the recent that everyone opts to stay at polling stations which may not be large enough to permit for the distancing.  

Lumumba says the Commission needs to clearly spell out the guidelines to be followed such that the stations do not become a source of spreading the infection.   

Lumumba added that they have asked the Electoral Commission to intervene and ensure that all candidates have equal access to media platforms. Several candidates have previously complained about the prohibitive cost of private media platforms, yet access to state media is restricted.  

Although guidelines by the Electoral Commission require private Media to accord equal opportunity to candidates to use the platform, it doesn’t determine the costs leaving media houses to set prices unaffordable to many candidates. Lumumba says they have asked the Commission to take interest in the matter and see to it that candidates access cheaper airtime and space.         

Harold Kaija, the Deputy Secretary-General of the opposition Forum for Democratic Change-FDC says that the Commission needs to explain the rationale of closing Political activities in some Districts like Kalungu which have just one registered COVID-19 case.  

Kaija says failure to do so casts doubt on the motive of the Commission. A number of members of the opposition have interpreted the recent suspension as a targeted moved to bar opposition candidates like National Unity Platform-NUP’s Robert Kyagulanyi and FDC’s Patrick Oboi Amuriat from campaigning in those areas.     

The Commission Chairperson Justice Simon Byabakama said they will discuss the matter with the technical team and find a way forward on the issues raised by IPOD members. He committed to a transparent free and fair election.

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