By Namubiru Agatha
The government has confirmed that residual elections in several districts and sub-counties will be conducted on February 17 to conclude the ongoing electoral process.
Speaking to the media after a Cabinet meeting chaired by President Yoweri Museveni at State House Entebbe, the Minister of ICT and National Guidance, Dr. Chris Baryomunsi, said the remaining elections are in a few areas where voting was not completed.
“We also want to note there are areas where elections have not yet been conducted in a few districts and sub-counties. Those residual elections will be conducted on the 17th of February so that we conclude the process in the few areas where, for various reasons, elections could not be concluded,” he said.
Uganda has already completed presidential, parliamentary, and local government elections at district and sub-county levels. The only elections pending are for Local Council One (LC1), which will mark the end of the current electoral cycle.
“Whenever they would fall due, we would revert to the law to postpone the LC1 elections so that they are held in this election cycle because we didn’t want to have LC elections done midway a term and distort the flow of the election cycle,” he said.
“Are we prepared? Yes, we are. What does it require? Maybe finances. We discussed it in Cabinet. The Electoral Commission is already preparing and they will be announcing the date when this election is going to be held,” he noted.
The minister urged political parties and aspiring candidates to organize ahead of the polls.
“It is now incumbent upon political parties to internally organize and field candidates,” he said.
On security, Dr. Baryomunsi said previous elections were conducted peacefully across the country.
““We were able to hold elections from Karamoja to Kigezi, from West Nile to Bukedi. All corners of the country were able to participate,” he said, adding that the government is prepared to ensure the remaining elections are peaceful.
Final statistics for local government elections are yet to be compiled.
Email:homelandnewspaper@gmail.com
