The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Napak, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Napak District has recorded the highest number of youthful voters a head of the national election due this week. The increase is the highest in the country in recent years, according to data from Uganda’s Electoral Body, Electoral Commission, (EC).
Napak has registered an increase of 31% in new voters. Central Uganda districts of Wakiso at 29 percent while Luwero and Masaka both recorded a similar increase of 28 % in new voters. Kampala and Butambala also featured with high increase of new voters with a 27 percent increase for both.
The rise in the number of new voters in Napak has been attributed to the increase in civic education in the area that caught the attention of the youth to engage in peaceful politics rather than the politics of protests.
According to Isiah Lowuk, a 19-year-old voter who will vote for the first time in a national election says they massively registered in order to be able to elect the leaders of their own choice. He noted that most of the current leaders have not been able to deliver on their promises and therefore the only way to have them out of the game is by electing the right leaders by ballot.
Charles Longok, another young voter in Matany Sub County says he has personally registered in order for him participate in democratic processes like choosing a leader of his own choice.Longok believes there is a surge in population in Napak that the number of young persons qualified to vote has risen. He says there are more youths of the vetting age this year more than before and most of them have registered.
Others explained that the mass registration of the youth is a gesture of their readiness to participate in the forthcoming election. This is an opinion shared by Paul Otee and Brian Lobur of Matany Sub County who state that massive registration by the youth is a positive step for the youth to participate in an election peacefully rather than through demonstrations and protests. According to Otee, the youth are ready to elect leaders of their choice.
John Bosco Loumo of Matany says the youth in his Matany rushed to register in order to get a national ID. He says that a lot of youth never understood the difference between voter registration and registration for national ID.
However, Otee who was an update official during registration exercise says the exercise was largely welcomed by the society. He says there was proper mobilization from the commission and therefore a lot of new voters were covered. He also adds that there was a mop up exercise which saw registration officials move from home to home and therefore all eligible voters were registered in Napak.
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