"Should the 2021 elections be postponed?"
A section of Ugandan legislators have welcomed a proposal being fronted by the Ugandan representatives at the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) to consider postponing general elections to the effects of Covid-19.
Some of the MPs we talked to said pouring money into the election will leave the country’s economy limping.
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On Wednesday this week, legislators representing Uganda at the East African Legislative Assembly Paul Musamali and Denis Namara urged government and the Electoral Commission to consider postponing the forthcoming general elections from 2021 to 2023.
Their proposal was met with mixed reaction among members of the public.
Yet the debate has now sucked in local legislators with many seemingly warming up to the idea.
Some of the MPs we spoke to said that in the wake of Covid-19, efforts should be put on resuscitating the economy and this may mean postponement of the elections.
The general elections are anticipated to cost hundreds of billions of shillings.
Other MPs told us this is not the time to talk about elections.
The legislators asked government in future to consider the application of electronic voting in order not to antagonize the electoral roadmap even when epidemics occur.
Recently, the Inter-Party Dialogue (IPOD) asked government to start debate on the issue of postponing the 2021 polls.
The outbreak of Covid-19 has already started affecting the electoral roadmap with the youth elections that were scheduled to start next week postponed to a later late.
