By:KATONGOLE ARNOLD
“ Government ‘s failure to organize the LC1 elections in disguise for lack of funds like it was an emergency to government. The step doesn’t only portray how this government has failed to serve Ugandans ,but this failure affirms how LC1 leadership is looked at with contempt from the regime.”
Remarks of Dr. Sarah Bireete Ugandan lawyer and founding partner for Center for Constitutional Governance (CCG) a watchdog for constitutionalism in the land.
Bireete’s comments followed government statement on LC1 elections, where government says they don’t have the 80 billion to conduct LC1 chairpersons elections. Uganda has 70,626 villages according to the electoral commission, each having an LC1 chairperson who governs the village with a committee of more nine(9) members appointed by the chairperson which brings the council members to ten (10) , chairperson inclusive.
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LC1 is the lowest unit of administration in the sphere of political offices in Uganda. There are five local councils in hierarchy, with first being LC1 and Last being LC5/LCV. The LCs are established in the 1995 constitution through the Local Governments Act. Article 181(4) of Uganda’s constitution states that local government elections will be held every after five years. However the democratic process wasn’t conducted from 1995 to 2006 , as a result of one- party system of governance.
In 2006, bidders of the process thought the longevity of the gestation period for the democratic process to commence had arrived, since the country had moved from a single-party system of governance to a multi-party dispensation. Woefully, the commencement for the exercise continued to be in the dark as the government said the amendment came late yet general elections were underway already.
10 July 2018, after 17years of waiting for inauguration, the first LC1 elections saw light as lining behind the candidate was the affordable voting method at 15.9bn from 505bn that had been budgeted using the secret ballot method. Inauguration of the democratic process was declared a public holiday to allow all voters to exercise one of their rights and obligations.
The second LC1 elections in Uganda’s history is still far from reality, after government’s affirmation of lack of funds to conduct the exercise. This has rooted confusion and perplexity in the running of LC1 duties as legal brains have come out to warn these chairpersons that they are unlawfully in office and this causes a laxity and contempt of the law.
Uganda Law Society (ULS) president Emeritus and lawyer Simon Peter Kinobe acknowledges the work of LCs in society, however he advises chairpersons to continue being careful at this time because there’s lots of existing irregularities now that the official term has expired and elections are in vain,
Kinobe , further explains that there’s a lacuna in the law of what should be done incase their period of office is done and elections for these LC1 chairpersons are not conducted in time. Another legal brain George Musisi, advises chairpersons to return stamps and keep out of office to keep away from legal trouble that may come their way during this time.
However all this fronted talk and array of criticism to government has been disputed by Local Government minister Hon.Raphael Magezi who ordered the LC1 chairpersons to continue occupying the office as government finds way out to this predicament. The public is watching as we keep tabs on how the matter continues to unfold.
