Prime
Parliament gives ultimatum on LC polls
Adolf Mwesigye. File Photo.
Parliament’s Legal and Parliament Affairs committee yesterday, during a debate on the Budget Report, asked Government to immediately provide the Shs20 billion needed to conduct Local Council elections before the end of calendar year 2012.
The concerned Ministries – Local Government and Justice and Constitutional Affairs – were also told to ensure that the necessary laws are passed.
The draft law and its amendments is however already before Parliament’s Public service and Local Government committee, which is conducting public hearings about the bill.
The Bill – Local Governments [Amendments] Bill 2012 – was tabled in July by the Local Government Minister, Adolf Mwesigye, who said elections could be held as early as December 2012 if it was passed quickly.
Uganda has not conducted Local Council elections at LC1, 2 4 and women councils since the return to a multiparty dispensation.
LC councils usually arbitrated village conflicts and were useful in matters like land wrangles. The LC system has been praised by some as being effective in helping organize the government at the local levels.
However, the Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Kahinda Otafiire said “the resource envelope” remains small and the polls will be held when funds are found. “No one has ignored the elections as alleged but lack of funds,” he said. This is the same reason Mr Mwesigye gave to Parliament while tabling the draft Bill to Parliament.
In the committee report, MPs said more funds should be provided so that election tribunals are put in place to hold residual elections.
The Electoral Commission had pledged in 2011/12 Financial Year that the LC elections would be conducted by May 2012. However there was no money allocated to the exercise, which forced the commission to postpone them.
Local Councils (LC) are a form of local elected governments in all districts, and were initially established as rebel support structures in areas controlled by the National Resistance Army (NRA) of President Museveni.
At this time, they were known as Resistance Councils (RCs) and proved effective in funnelling food and supplies to the NRA combatants. Following the victory of the NRA and Museveni's taking of the presidential office in 1986, Resistance Councils were implemented in every district. After the first elections under President Museveni in 1996, the Resistance Councils were renamed Local Councils.
