With the electoral season around the country coming to a close, Ugandans have been called upon to rekindle the demand for electoral reforms.
The head of the Citizens’ Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda (CCEDU) Livingstone Ssewanyana made the call yesterday, terming the electoral reforms as the country’s topmost unfinished business.
Sewakiryanga called up the country to intensify pressure on the ruling government which dominated this year’s election, until it recognizes and enacts laws bettering the electoral process.
“The playing ground is not yet leveled. It is still about who has the money and not who has the ideas,” he said.
Ssewanyana was yesterday speaking at the Topowa campaign workshop at Lake View Hotel in Mbarara. The Topowa campaign actively pushed for reforms in the build up for the 2016 general elections and encouraged Ugandans to embrace the election exercise.
Ssewanyana said at the event that civil society organizations too should not relax the push for reforms now that the election season is over.
Participants in yesterday’s Topowa conference
“While the Topowa campaign restored trust in the electorate to cast their votes during the February elections, our mission was not accomplished. Indeed government came out and banned the campaign after being misled it was an opposition tool,” he said.
“The destiny of this country is in our hands despite of whatever shortcomings we may have had; optimism should remain alive, we must continue mobilizing Ugandans for peaceful and credible elections.”
Among the reforms that CCEDU is pushing for is establishment of an independent electoral commission, prohibiting commercialization of elections, and voter bribery as well as allowing more space for the opposition.
Some of these election reforms were suggested and tabled before Parliament last year by the opposition and civil society, but being NRM dominated, they were rejected.