The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party has requested that courts replace the use of introduction letters from expired Local Council One chairpersons with national IDs as a condition for bail application.
The call comes after the completion of the term of office for all Local Council 1 & 2 chairpersons across the country, which ended on July 10, 2023.
Speaking to the media at their offices in Najjanankumbi, FDC deputy spokesperson, John Kikonyogo stated that the party was anticipating a situation where applicants and sureties would present LC1 letters, only to be rejected on the basis of invalidation due to the expiry of the issuing authority.
He said that the offices of LC1 are vital in the country due to their proximity to the people and that if they are not functioning, a lot of things will not work out.
For the time being, instead of asking for LC1 letters to confirm someone's residency, national IDs should be used, he suggested.
"The terms of LC1 and LC2 will be expiring and we don't see any preparation of holding elections to choose new chairpersons,"he said.
He pointed out that this condition for an introduction letter from the LC1 chairperson is likely to hinder the rights to bail of many Ugandans since the offices are now illegal.
He asked the government to provide funds to organise a new election for local council leaders.
He noted that courts should have biometric system machines where applicants and their sureties could press their fingerprints to capture their details and obtain printouts.
Election of the new leaders hangs in the balance after the Ministry of Local Government failed to obtain the Shs 60 billion required by the Electoral Commission to conduct the election.
The EC had submitted a request in April for Shs60.8 billion to conduct elections for Local Council 1 and 2 officials, whose terms expire on July 10, 2023.
The request remains unmet by the Finance ministry, commission officials worry.
The cost of running women council elections which should have been held in August 2022 was suspended due to lack of funds, rendering the councils nonexistent.
The cost of running these elections is estimated at Shs 20 billion. This lack of funds presents a headache for the authorities who have repeatedly pleaded for money to organise and hold these polls.
Section 170 of the Local Governments Act provides that the Chairpersons Local Councils and Administrative Councils shall be elected every five years.
The current local council one leaders were elected in August 2018 and their term of office expired yesterday Monday July 10. Before 2018, Uganda had taken a period of 16 years without electing Local Council leaders.
If money for the elections are not released by the Finance ministry, the country will see a return to the 2001 and 2018 fiasco where village and parish leaders remained in office illegally-leading to litigation challenging the validity of whatever actions they may have taken in the period.
Lower level councils are a key cog in the wheel of Uganda's political infrastructure.
