Justice Byabakama commended the media for their invaluable contributions to the electoral process and urged them to embrace good election reporting practices, by studying the electoral roadmaps critically and understanding the processes so that they can follow progress and report from a point of knowledge.
The Electoral Commission (EC) has pledged to conduct a
credible electoral exercise in 2026.
Justice Simon Byabakama Mugenyi, the EC Chairperson in his statement read by Anthony Okello, during
a Regional Broadcasters Conference on Broadcasting Standards and Content
Development at Heritage Courts Hotel in Arua City on Tuesday, revealed that the
exercise of field demarcation of electoral areas for representation at local
governments has been concluded.
Justice Byabakama added
that the commission has also concluded the exercise of reorganizing polling stations countrywide to enable voters to cast their votes conveniently. “We are currently
conducting the nationwide identification and mapping of persons with
disabilities on the National Voters Register. This is being undertaken as a
measure to ensure that the entire electoral process is as inclusive as possible
and conducted under conditions of free and fairness to, among others, enable
persons with disabilities to vote without any hindrances,” Justice Byabakama
noted.
The next activity will
be a general update of the National Voters Register in each parish or ward
countrywide. Justice Byabakama
commended the media for their invaluable contributions to the electoral process
and urged them to embrace good election reporting practices, by studying the
electoral roadmaps critically and understanding the processes so that they can
follow progress and report from a point of knowledge.
The media practitioners
are also challenged to understand the electoral cycle and how processes feed
into each other, to ease their communication functions and help the masses
understand the activities, rights, duties, and responsibilities during the
electoral process.
“Acquaint yourselves
with the laws, especially those that apply to media rights, duties, and
responsibilities. Acquaint yourselves with the legal framework for the various
electoral activities so that you can give an informed opinion,” he stated. The media is also asked
to promote peaceful campaigns and support conflict prevention by ensuring that
political differences and debates do not lead to hostility and or
escalate to conflict levels.
“The media can often
incite violence through unbalanced, inaccurate or inflammatory reporting. We
have seen examples of election-related violence in the region, which was
largely fuelled by media houses,” Justice Byabakama stated. Justice Byabakama
pledged that the EC would commit to a
transparent engagement with the media at all times
and maintain an open-door policy where media inquiries will be
handled expeditiously.
“A successful election
process is a product of the effort of all stakeholders. The Commission
acknowledges and appreciates you for supporting the electoral process to date,”
he noted. When asked why other candidates of the opposition are stopped from talking on the radio, yet these are candidates EC has allowed to campaign, Anthony
Okello, a commissioner at the electoral commission, also focal point
commissioner for West Nile Sub-region, encouraged journalists to give equal access and time to
every candidate irrespective of the party.
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Okello explained that there is a need for
the electoral process to be done in a
secure way, and asked members of the
opposition to liaise with the Resident District Commissioners, who are the heads of the security committees in administrative units,
to prevent complaints of being denied access to the media.
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In August, the EC
launched the Strategic Plan 2022/2023-2026/2027 which it says will help it
deliver a free and fair election come 2026.
