The District Returning Officer, Elizabeth Namirembe, said the exercise started successfully across the district and urged all eligible residents to participate, stressing that only registered voters will be allowed to take part in the forthcoming village elections.
“The exercise has started well across the district. We call upon all eligible voters to register within the stipulated period because only those whose names appear on the voters’ register will participate in the LC I elections,” Namirembe said.
However, the exercise was marked by concerns from residents of Kisaba Village in Kayunga Town Council and another village in Kayonza Sub-county, who questioned why they were not being treated as separate administrative units during registration.
Residents said Kisaba had been split from the original village and expected to have its own voters’ register, prompting confusion during the exercise.
Responding to the concerns, Namirembe said the Electoral Commission has no legal mandate to create or recognise new villages without official approval from the local government.
“The Electoral Commission does not split villages. That responsibility lies with the local government, which must issue an administrative instrument confirming the creation of a new village before we can include it in our electoral register,” she explained.
She said that when preparations for the voter registration exercise began on June 1, the Commission had not received the required administrative instruments for the two newly proposed villages—one in Kayunga Town Council and another in Kayonza Sub-county.
“By the time we began preparations on 1 June, we had not received the administrative instruments for those villages. Therefore, as far as the Electoral Commission is concerned, those villages are still part of the existing administrative units,” Namirembe said.
She urged residents in the affected areas to continue registering under their current villages to avoid missing out on the electoral process while administrative issues are being resolved.
“We encourage residents not to miss registration because of these administrative issues. They should register in the existing villages where all electoral activities are being conducted,” she added.
The clarification is expected to reduce confusion and ensure that eligible voters are not excluded due to unresolved boundary adjustments.
Kayunga District has nine sub-counties, four town councils and 407 villages, all of which are participating in the ongoing voter registration exercise ahead of the LC I elections.
The Electoral Commission has urged residents to verify their details and register within the stipulated period, noting that the voters’ register will form the basis for participation in the upcoming village leadership elections.