Prime
We need oversight mechanisms for Covid-19 guidelines
Crispin Kaheru
What you need to know:
- Ultimately, what Ugandans would like is the sincere assurance that even as we embrace the changes impressed upon us by Covid-19, voters, candidates and all other stakeholders will have that fair go at the election regardless of their political, social or even economic standing. This assurance will have to come from the Electoral Commission.
It is increasingly clear that Uganda will head to the polls in 2021 despite calls for the postponement of the elections until when Covid-19 pandemic is ‘managed’.
In principle, elections thrive on three fundamental elements: 1) Freedom of movement (mobility): which relates to the right of individuals to travel from place to place within the territory of a country; 2) Freedom of assembly (meeting): which relates to the right to hold ‘public meetings’ without any interference; and 3) Freedom of association: which is the individual’s right to join or leave groups voluntarily – this relates to the right to form or join political parties, organisations, formations, alliances, coalitions or pressure groups.
Within the context of an electoral process, limitations on freedom of movement, assembly and association inevitably have a serious bearing on the meaning of democratic, free and fair elections.
Covid-19 has radically affected the political and socio-economic spheres of society and Uganda has not been spared. At the same time, here we are with an election hardly six months away. Electoral activities are ordinarily high human-to-human interactive processes.
The context of Covid-19 demands that we urgently rethink the structuring of the traditionally human-intensive electoral activities to ensure people’s safety as well as active participation. Now, that’s a delicate balance to strike. But we have some prototypes – not to follow, but to keep in mind.
Malawi, a country of 18 million people, held its presidential elections on June 23. They had open-air campaign rallies which integrated health and safety measures. At campaigns, attendees were supposed to wear masks, socially distance and regularly sanitise.
Election euphoria, however, limited adherence to the set health and safety measures. Malawi and Uganda had about 800 cases on 23 June; weeks later, Malawi has more than 2,400 cases while Uganda has slightly above 1,000 confirmed cases. Malawi had 11 deaths at the time it went to the polls. Now it has more than 40 deaths. Uganda just registered its first death.
Zambia on the other hand has conducted about five regional elections during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Electoral Commission of Zambia instituted guidelines only permitting political meetings of 50 or less people. Even then, the rates of infection in Zambia have risen to more than 1,800 now. There is a correlation between the areas where the regional elections took place and the rising rates of infections.
Most countries that have conducted elections during Covid-19 have suffered one major setback; they’ve instituted Covid-19 response guidelines in different aspects but have not introduced special oversight mechanisms to monitor compliance with Covid-19 health and safety measures.
There’s no doubt that within the context of Covid-19, we will need to conduct elections that are more organised to seriously integrate health and safety measures. But beyond the measures, can we have impartial oversight mechanisms for the guidelines we adopt? It is not a matter of having guidelines; it is also about having the capability to monitor their implementation.
Secondly, can we scale up voter mobilisation alongside voter education? We are hardly six months away from polls, but besides media coverage of political events, there is no tailored voter education or even voter mobilisation efforts happening.
Ultimately, what Ugandans would like is the sincere assurance that even as we embrace the changes impressed upon us by Covid-19, voters, candidates and all other stakeholders will have that fair go at the election regardless of their political, social or even economic standing. This assurance will have to come from the Electoral Commission.
Mr Kaheru is a socio-political commentator
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