1 

 

Adm72/01 16th December 2010

Press Statement on the Road Map to 2011 General Elections

Thursday 16th December 2010

A. Introduction Our esteemed partners, members of the press, it is my privilege and pleasure to welcome you to our weekly press briefing. Today, the Commission would like to update you and the general public concerning the commencement of campaigns for Parliamentary Elections, ongoing activities under the programme for Youth Councils/Committees Elections, statistics of nominated candidates for Parliamentary and Local Government Councils Elections 2011, and other issues related to the electoral process. B. Commencement of Campaign Meetings for Parliamentary Elections 2011 The Electoral Commission has appointed the period from 16th December 2010 until 16th February 2011 as the period for campaigns for Parliamentary Elections 2010, and polling day is set for 18th February 2011. The Commission urges candidates and their supporters to observe the guidelines governing this campaign, and desist from any acts that may disrupt public order. Accordingly, the general public and candidates who have been nominated to contest as directly elected Members of Parliament and District Woman Members of Parliament should observe the following:

1. Campaign meetings/rallies shall be strictly conducted between 7:00am and 6:00pm, each day, and only in accordance with the harmonized and approved programme for the respective electoral area (constituency);

2. In accordance with the harmonized campaign programme, no other campaign meeting shall be held within a district on a date when a Presidential Candidate is campaigning within that district. Please note that each Presidential candidate has been given at least one day in each district.

3. A candidate or his/her agents shall not use any defamatory or insulting language or such

language which constitutes incitement to public disorder, insurrection or violence or which threatens war.

2 

 

4. Furthermore, a candidate or his/her agents shall not make statements which are false, malicious, or statements containing sectarian words, or use language that is abusive and insulting. The Commission is following some leads on this one.

5. A candidate or an agent of a candidate shall not carry out fundraising activities, for any

cause other than towards the campaign programme of the candidate.

6. The Commission would like to draw the attention of government officials to Section 25 of the Parliamentary Elections Act (as amended), which states that, except as authorized by law, no candidate shall use government or public resources for the purpose of campaigning for elections.

C. Conclusion of Exercise of Compilation of Nomination Returns The Electoral Commission has concluded the exercise of compiling returns from the nomination of candidates for Parliamentary and Local Government Councils Elections. The total number of nominated candidates is indicated hereunder: No.

Category Elective positions

Nominated candidates

1. Presidential 1 8

2. Directly-elected Member of Parliament 238 1,270

3. District Woman Representative to Parliament 112 443

4. District/City Chairperson 112 367

5. District/City Directly-elected Councillor 1,338 3,704

6. District/City Women Councillors 920 2,060

7. Municipality/City Division Chairperson 27 127

8. Municipality/City Division Directly-elected Councillors 385 1,335

9. Municipality/City Division Women Councillors 249 659

10. Sub-county/Town/Municipal Division Chairperson 1,323 3,860

11. Sub-county/Town/Municipal Division Directly-elected Councillors 7,329 13,995

12. Sub-county/Town/Municipal Division Women Councillors 6,595 10,659

Total No. of positions to fill and No. of nominated candidates 18,629 38,579 Please note that the above table does not include the category and number of elective positions to fill for representatives of Special Interest Groups, namely Youths, Persons with Disabilities, Workers and the Army. The electoral programme for Youths is ongoing and the programme for the other groups will be announced in due course. A breakdown of the nomination statistics is indicated in the attached schedule.

3 

 

(http://www.ec.or.ug/docs/Stat%20Nominated%20Candidates.pdf) D. Commencement of exercise for Update of the National Youth Voters’ Register, 17th –

20th December 2010 In preparation for conducting the Youth Councils/Committees Elections 2010/2011, the Electoral Commission has appointed 17th December until 20th December 2010 as the period for update of the National Youth Voters’ Register. The update exercise shall be conducted at a designated place in each village throughout the country, starting at 9:00am until 6:00pm on each of the appointed dates, including week-ends. Members of the public, and particularly the youth, are urged to carefully note the following:

1. This exercise is strictly for purposes of updating the National Youth Voters’ Register;

2. The Electoral Commission has compiled the National Youth Voters’ Register (NYVR) by extracting the names of all voters who are already on the National Voters’ Register (NVR), and are from 18 to below 30 years of age, as at 20th December 2010.

3. The names of these voters have been compiled into Village Youth Registers according to the respective villages where they are registered on the National Voters’ Register;

4. Therefore, during this exercise, youths shall turn up at their respective Village Update Centre (polling station) in person, and check the Register to confirm that their particulars appear (on that Register), and if not, correct or include them.

5. All persons who are from 18 to below 30 years of age (Youth), and are not on the Youth Register (which was extracted from the National Voters’ Register), and are willing to be members of Village Youth Council, shall also be registered for inclusion on the National Youth Voters’ Register during this update exercise.

6. A person shall qualify to be registered as a youth if that person is a citizen of Uganda, aged from 18 to below 30 years, and originates from or resides in that village.

7. For the avoidance of doubt, persons (Youths) who are registering anew for purposes of the Youth Councils/Committees Elections 2010/2011 shall not appear in the National Voters’ Register, which was compiled for purposes of Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government Council Elections. Hence this exercise, which will result into a non-photo-bearing Youth Register, shall not affect the status of the National Voters’ Register in any way.

8. All Youths who do not turn up for the exercise but appear on the Update Register will be deemed to be willing to belong to the Youth Council and their particulars will be left on the register for polling, unless they withdraw (in writing) their willingness to participate (in the Youth Councils/Committees Elections).

4 

 

9. The following shall also be done during this exercise: a. Youths who wish to move/transfer to new voting locations (for purpose of Youth

Elections only), shall fill the relevant form, and the transfer will be effected.

b. Recommendations shall also be made for deletion of persons who are no longer eligible to be on the National Youth Voters’ Register, that is: • The over-age (30 years and above) and under-age (below 18 years, if any); • The dead; • Those who left area; • Those who neither reside nor originate from the village; and, • The non-citizens (if any).

Abridged Programme for Youth Councils/Committees Elections 2010/2011

E. Hearing and determining electoral complaints The Electoral Commission has continued to receive nomination-related complaints for hearing and determination. The Commission has been able to consider and resolve at least 30 cases by 16th December 2010.

Registration/Update of Youth Register 17th – 20th Dec 2010

Display of the Village Youth Register 21st – 22nd Dec 2010

Nomination of Candidates for Village Youth Committees at the Parish/Ward level

21st - 22nd Jan 2011

Campaign period for Village Youth Committees/Councils 23rd - 25th Jan 2011

Polling day for Village Youth Committees/Councils 27th Jan 2011 Nomination of Candidates at Sub-county level for Parish/Ward Youth

Committees’ elections 31stJan - 1st Feb 2011

Campaign period for Parish/Ward Youth Committees/Councils 2nd – 3rd Feb 2011

Polling day for Parish/Ward Youth Committees/Councils 4th Feb 2011 Nomination of Candidates for Sub-county/Town/Municipal Division Youth

Committees’ Elections 7th - 8th Feb 2011

Campaign period for Sub-county/Town/Municipal Division level 9th – 10th Feb 2011 Polling day for Sub-county/Town/Municipal Division Youth

Committees/Councils 11th Feb 2011

Nomination of Candidates for District/City and Municipality Youth Committees’ elections

13th Feb 2011

Campaign period for Municipality/City Division and District Youth Committees’ elections

14th - 23rd Feb 2011

Polling day for Municipality/City Division and District Youth Committees/Councils

25th Feb 2011

Polling day for District/City Youth Committees/Councils 4th March 2011 Regional Youth Conferences for election of 4 Youth representatives to

Parliament 8th - 10th March 2011

National Youth Council elections and election of Female Youth Member of Parliament.

12th – 14th March 2011

5 

 

Some contesting political parties have expressed dissatisfaction with coverage extended to their candidates by media houses, including the public broadcaster, UBC. We have taken steps to engage the concerned media houses to find agreeable and lawful settlement of these matters. The Commission wishes to appreciate all media houses which have responded positively to our call for equal coverage, and complied with the guidelines provided by the Media Council on providing equitable access to contesting candidates in the 2011 General Elections. F. Conclusion As the above brief indicates, the electoral programme for the 2011 General Elections is progressing very well and polling shall take place on the various designated dates. The Electoral Commission reiterates its commitment to organising and conducting the elections in a free and fair manner. We wish to call upon all Ugandans to support this commitment by playing their respective constitutional roles at the various levels of the electoral process. I thank you, For God and my country, Eng. Dr. Badru M. Kiggundu Chairperson, Electoral Commission