2016 elections test public confidence in Kiggundu EC again

Voters at St Peters Nursery and Primary School Kyebando in Kampala turn rowdy after voting materials delayed to reach the polling station where they had queued to vote from. PHOTO BY MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI

The Electoral Commission (EC) has devoted a better part of this electoral exercise emphasising that it is an impartial and independent organisation capable of delivering a credible, free and fair election, but some of the stakeholders in the process think otherwise.

EC chairperson Badru Kiggundu is no stranger to the accusations levelled against him and the institution that he leads ranging from partiality to fraud concealment in elections, having been at the helm of managing Uganda’s elections since 2002.

For example, the results of the first presidential election he managed in 2006 were challenged in court which found irregularities but nevertheless upheld them.

In the run up to February 18, when Ugandans voted for president and MPs, Dr Kiggundu and his officials used media briefings and other functions to dismiss the allegations that the commission he leads is biased, as baseless and challenged those making them to adduce evidence.

Dr Livingstone Sewanyana, the chairperson of Citizens Election Observer Network Uganda (CEON-U), one of the organisations actively observing the 2016 elections, says the electoral environment in Uganda is riddled with serious problems, such as commercialisation of politics, voter bribery, intimidation, an unlevelled ground where some candidates having more resources than others yet they are competing for the same post.

He suggests EC deserves credit for registering performance in such an environment.

“Well it [EC] would be better. They are working within limits, mainly because of the delay in the implementation of their roadmap. But again, considering those limitations they are performing reasonably well,” Dr Sewanyana says.

He cites some achievements, including nomination of the candidates, ensuring that the candidate rallies generally ran smoothly, issuing guidelines and providing voter election slips, among others.

Trust issues
Right from day one, with the exception of the ruling National Resistance Movement, other players challenged the EC’s ability to deliver on its mandate.

Take Dr Kizza Besigye, for example, who ran for president as a flag bearer of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), Uganda’s largest Opposition party, who on the day of his nomination accused the EC of bias and being a “walking stick of President Museveni”.
Independent presidential candidate Amama Mbabazi, on the other hand, even challenged the commission in court either for what he deemed as its inaction on its directives and regulations or for what his campaign team described as bias.

EC’s lack of independence was further thrown into the limelight when EC announced the postponement of the nominations for Kampala Lord Mayor and his deputy, citing what they called the absence of regulations from the Minister for Kampala. At the same time, government had tabled amendments to the Kampala Capital City Authority Act, 2010.

The amendments, which included changing the election of the Kampala Lord Mayor from adult suffrage to voting by the colleges, were widely viewed as a move to disenfranchise the people of Kampala. The decision would later be rescinded following public pressure.
At least 77 per cent of the people polled by Research World International (RWI) between December 19, 2015, to January 10 to assess opinions and perceptions of Ugandans of voting-age on the 2016 general election said they don’t trust EC to act impartially as far as their role during February presidential elections was concerned.

Dr Gerald Karyeija, the dean of the School of Management Science at the Uganda Management Institute (UMI), says the mistrust of the EC is rooted in Uganda’s history of fraudulent elections, favouring the incumbent. He faults the commission for failing to raise its profile so that the public trust in its work improves.

“The confidence of the public in the Electoral Commission is limited and the only way they can improve that is through assertiveness, reigning in errant State officials and the Opposition of course. The way they respond to the messages considered unfair, especially from the President, the transparency they exhibit in the electoral process and the tendency to always want to appear like they don’t want to make independent decisions of government has also made them to lose credibility,” Dr Karyeija says.

He says the commission has to be transparent and accountable to the electorate, but also be consistent in their work if they are to be trusted.

“The EC should take the lead in the electoral process. When it is exams, Uneb [Uganda National Examinations Board] takes the lead, when it is crime prevention, police takes the lead and when it is external aggression, and the army does the same. The leadership of the electoral process by the EC needs to be strengthened to show that it is in the lead of civic and voter education but also in terms of ensuring what is expected to be done is done,” Dr Karyeija says.

EC spokesperson Jotham Taremwa, however, says the negative perceptions some people have about EC are baseless.

“The perception about the impartiality of the commission will go over time because what we do is on the basis of the law. Those fears are unfounded, they are not necessary. So what if I support a given candidate but the law requires me to do this, will I not follow the law?

Otherwise this commission will be in courts every day. The cure for anybody who supports any candidate or party interests is the law which in place.”

The other point of contention has been EC’s readiness for the exercise.

While the commission has been steadfast in assuring the country of its preparedness for the exercise, some of the activities it has undertaken have caused some players to question that.

Take for example, the late introduction of new technologies and measures such as the biometric voter verification system (BVVS) and voter location slips. The use of both systems in the elections was announced less than a month to the presidential elections.

Observers said the move could be interpreted by the already suspicious and desensitised population as an attempt to rig the polls.
More confusion was also around the time of voting which changed from 7am to 5pm, to 7am to 4pm.

National voter register
The EC also failed to follow its roadmap. For example, despite promising to issue the voter registers to the presidential candidates on nomination day, the EC only released the register more than a month later on December 14.
The controversy about the authenticity of the register which was generated from data collected by the Ministry of Internal Affairs came into the limelight further when the EC refused to nominate former presidential candidate and Democratic Party leader Norbert Mao for the Gulu Municipality MP seat.

Mr Mao’s nomination was rejected on the grounds that he (Mao) couldn’t prove he was Ugandan because he had neither registered nor participated in the update exercise of the register.

Observers opine that the EC has no legal basis to take away one’s citizenship or right to vote if they have participated in the previous exercise(s).

Also, the move by EC to retire the 2011 register was seen by observers as an affront to the rights of Ugandans.

In fact, retired Supreme Court judge George Kanyeihamba wrote in The Observer that: “By discarding the voters’ register, Kiggundu and his colleagues at the commission stand a risk of being arrested and charged with treason in accordance with article 2(3) of the Constitution.”

Procurement
The EC was also embroidered in procurement controversies with some of those that bid to supply equipment needed for the 2016 polls questioning the transparency in awarding the final contracts.

Take for example, the tender to supply vehicles to EC which sparked off a row between the commission and the suppliers for favouring one of the bidders.
The questions rotated around whether Haks, the company which won the biggest chunk (Shs6b) of the Shs12 billion contract, met some of the requirements stated in EC’s tender solicitation document.

Another of such controversial procurements was that of the Electronic Results Transmission and Dissemination System (ERTDS). The Democratic Governance Facility, which had committed to supporting half of the Shs9 billion, procurement pulled out from the deal at the last minute citing irregularities in the procurement process of the project.

The decision was prompted by EC’s cancelling of the contract that had been awarded to SCYTL in favour of Avante International Technology Inc, under what the donor described as “suspicious circumstances”.

Consequently, EC invoked emergency procurement as provided for under the PPDA Statutory Instrument 2014 No. 8 (3) (8), to invite two companies to bid again and awarded the contract to Avante International Technology Inc., which was the provider of the ERTDS in 2011 polls. In both procurement deals, the EC denies of any wrong doing.

Lawyer and rights activist Jackie Asiimwe-Mwesige opines that the EC, like other government departments, can only do so much.

“When we look at the EC, is it them in control, is it them who actually manage the show, if one is to believe Gen [David] Sejusa? There are orders from above and you can’t tell me it can affect every other institution of government and not the EC,” she says.

“The regime has almost a permanent stake in maintaining itself. Therefore, it must ensure that those who manage the elections do so in such a way as to give them an upper hand, in such a way as to manage one person in power. We can focus on the EC but it is part of the wider malaise, breakdown and capture by the establishment but most especially the president of the institutions generally.”

To illustrate her point, she says the commission has left a lot to be desired in management of candidates’ complaints.

“They have been partial, when certain candidates complain nothing is done when others do, especially those who are pro-regime, including the President, they bend over backwards. The EC is not impartial; it is seen as a regime and status quo maintainer. It is not trusted,” she says.