Lilongwe, Malawi | THE INDEPENDENT & XINHUA | Malawi’s new President Lazaurs Chakwera has promised a new beginging for his country, as he was sworn in Sunday by Chief Justice Andrew Nyirenda SC. “I know there many of you who didn’t vote me and the prospect of my presidency gives …
Read More »Tumukunde rejects EC plans of printing ballot papers in Uganda
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Lt. Gen. Henry Tumukunde has said the Electoral Commission is wrong to print ballots for the 2021 general elections in Uganda. Speaking on Wednesday at his home in Kololo, Tumukunde said printing ballots has potential for leakage and duplication which will compromise the integrity …
Read More »COMMENT: Is 2021 ‘scientific election’ informed by science, panic or opportunism?
Analysis of Uganda’s COVID-19-defined general elections COMMENT | JOSEPH MUKASA NGUBWAGYE | Last week, the Electoral Commission (EC) of Uganda launched a new road map for the 2021 general elections. The most controversial pronouncement was that the process, including campaigns and polling, will be “scientific”. In his words, the EC Chairman …
Read More »2021 elections: Give the media the independence it deserves – experts
Kampala, Uganda | Julius Businge | A group of civil society organisations have urged the government to ensure that the media is allowed to operate without interference as the 2021 general elections get closer. The Independent Electoral Commission announced recently that the election would be conducted ‘scientifically’ where candidates will campaign …
Read More »Scientific election plan stirs mixed reaction among local council leaders
Masaka, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Local council leaders in Masaka have expressed mixed feelings on the new guidelines released by the Electoral Commission to direct the 2021 general elections and campaigns. As part of its roadmap ahead of the general election planned for early next year, the commission barred all …
Read More »Malawians to cast vote in fresh presidential poll Tuesday
LILONGWE, Malawi | XINHUA | Thirteen months after Malawi held tripartite elections in May 2019, the country is going to conduct fresh presidential election Tuesday, June 23. This follows the monumental Feb. 3 court ruling which annulled the May 2019 presidential poll after a lengthy legal battle in …
Read More »Absence of international observers cannot stop polls – EC chairman
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Electoral Commission (EC) Chairman Justice Simon Byabakama has said that the absence of international election observers cannot stop an electoral process from taking place. Byabakama’s statement follows a revelation by the Head of Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Uganda, Ambassador Attilio Pacifici …
Read More »Electoral Commission dragged to court over digital elections
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Electoral Commission has been dragged to court for banning open-air campaigns in the run-up to the 2021 general elections. Ugandans will go to the polls between January and February 2021, to elect a President, Members of Parliament and Local council leaders. But instead …
Read More »Prisons service seeks guidance on inmates ‘Right to Vote’
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Uganda Prisons Service is seeking guidance on how inmates will participate in elections while incarcerated away from their places of origin or even areas where they are registered as voters. This comes a day after high court Judge Lydia Mugambe ordered the government …
Read More »Court allows Ugandans in diaspora, prisoners to participate in elections
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The High Court in Kampala has ordered the government and the Electoral Commission to allow Ugandans in Diaspora and those in prison to participate in elections. The order was issued this morning by Justice Lydia Mugambe, on the basis of a petition filed two years …
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