One year after general elections, political parties renew demand for reforms at the EC

A year after overseeing the hotly contested 2021 general election, the Electoral Commission appears to have gone into limbo.

Their last major assignment was the Kayunga by election which were marred with allegations of vote rigging.

However starting this month, there are signs that the EC could flicker to life as it embarks on the process to organise the Women Council elections.

In an interview, EC's acting spokesperson Paul Bukenya, revealed that the electoral body is busy with engagements including drawing a strategy on how best to conduct the next election scheduled for 2026.

"The commission has been reviewing the 2021 performance and a report was handed to parliament. So we are now drafting our strategies on how to conduct the next election. You know elections are funded over three financial years," Bukenya said.

But political actors including the NRM, Democratic Party and the National Unity Platform say the commission should be engaging political parties on its road map and to heal the wounds from the 2021 elections.

The political parties argued that there are several reforms that the commission has to undergo.

Among the reforms that the parties want to be effected is holding all elections-including local council elections- on the same day.

They also want to abolish the requirement by aspiring presidential candidates to collect signatures from the districts to back up their bid.

"The only necessary reforms now are the ones to change how the electoral commission chairperson is appointed.thats when we will be sure of a democratic process," Lewis Rubongoya, the NUP general secretary said.

Gerald Siranda, his DP counterpart said elections need to be in one day, because "we spend billions on elections that many don't participate in."

The director of the Electoral Laws Institute Charity Kalebbo Ahimbisibwe said the Electoral Commission should be resolving the many issues that resulted from the previous election.

Bukenya said some of proposals need to be realistic because they come with a lot of challenges.

"Elections in a single day mean extra staff, funding and many more resource demands," he said.

He said the commission has drafted some reforms to be forwarded to the ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs for a better electoral system.

"We want timely enactment of the electoral laws to enable us have enough time to study and interpret them. We want to be given powers to sanction candidates or their agents who fail to comply with campaign guidelines among others," Bukenya said.

He said they had learnt lessons from previous elections which will be key in improving their performance going forward.