2021 elections: NCHE triples academic verification fees from Shs 750,000 to Shs 2 million

The National Council for Higher Education(NCHE) has explained why it has increased the verification fee of academic documents for those seeking elective offices in from Shs 750,000 to Shs 2 million. This is almost triple the amount.

Speaking to the media in Kampala, the Public Relations Officer, NCHE, Saulo Waigolo, said they had discovered that the fee of Shs 750,000 was not enough for the tedious exercise.

"Shs 2 million is not even enough for all processes. At first, we were charging shs 750,000 but we realized that it was not enough. So we were using the money given to us by the government to do our activities to run election activities. So that's why the money was increased," he explained.

Waigolo explained that the increment targets aspirants looking at the presidential seat, parliament, and the LCV positions.

He said the verification of academic qualification requires a lot of resources yet the function is not funded by the government.

But he said the fees remain unchanged for those seeking to equate their academic qualifications attained from institutions abroad. The figure ranges from Shs 100,000 to Shs 300,000.

He also said that process of verifying documents for those seeking employment is different from those aspiring for political office.

However, a section of politicians said that the continuous increment in election-related fees, raging from nomination to verification of academic documents limits the political space for some individuals.

They noted that the increment of this money would lead to poor quality leadership as only those with money will be able to aspire for leadership.

They said it is exorbitant, prohibitive, and unconstitutional because the right to vote and the right to be voted would be tampered with.