The Monitor (Kampala)
4 November 2009
President Yoweri Museveni has admitted that he was behind the research that discovered more than one million ghost voters on the national register. Naturally, the Electoral Commission (EC) has been on the defensive over the report, and has come out to dismiss the claims of "incompetence" leveled against it in the report.
While accusations and counteraccusations of bloating the voters register have dominated Uganda's elections since 1980, we think this finding should be a blessing for the various stakeholders, including President Museveni and the EC.
Of course there is nothing peculiar about discovering 'ghosts.' As we all know, almost every public institution in this country has been at one time found to host ghosts. Ghost pupils, soldiers, teachers and policemen, just name it are all a common occurrence in Uganda. What about a register of 10 million voters?
But unlike in previous elections when the incumbents would seem happy to benefit from such anomalies, both the NRM and the opposition seem to be in agreement that something must be done urgently to clean up the register prior to the elections in 2011.
For President Museveni, who ironically, has been at the forefront of opposing electoral reforms, this research should, therefore, be an eye opener. The reforms are not only important but also an urgent necessity, if a repetition of the past mistakes is to be avoided.
For the EC, there is no need to go on the defensive. Instead, it is an opportunity to demand that the government releases the necessary funds in time, and to appeal to the donors to help plug the gaps.
The EC must by now be seen to fulfill its mandate to organise and deliver a free and fair electoral process before, during and after the elections.
For the opposition, it is time to wake up, organise better and with one voice push for the necessary electoral reforms ahead of the elections.
Finally, for all Ugandans, it is an opportunity to realise the need to be more vigilant. If the examples from countries such as Kenya and Zimbabwe are anything to go by, the price of a fraudulent election can be too high for a country to pay.
We all need to do something because there is nothing to gain but everything to lose from a fraudulent electoral process.
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