The Electoral Commission (EC) has delivered polling materials ahead of Wednesday’s Kalangala Woman Member of Parliament by-election. The voting materials, which include ballot boxes, booklets of ballot papers, declaration of results forms, among other things, have been delivered to the Electoral Commission stores in Kalangala Town Council.
Harriet Kasagyire, the Central Southern Region Elections Officer, says that all the materials have been delivered to enable their timely delivery to all polling stations in the area to avoid any delays. She confidently said the commission is now fully prepared to conduct the by-election at all the 115 polling stations in Kalangala district.
The recently concluded register update exercise by the Electoral Commission indicated that Kalangala has 42,452 voters, who are expected to cast their ballots on Wednesday. Kasagyire observes that the commission is also going to deploy the Biometric Voter Verification Kits (BVVK) to ensure transparency throughout the voting exercise.
Ronald Agaba, the Kalangala District Returning Officer, says they have duly followed the by-election roadmap, thereby calling upon voters to collaborate well with the election officials on polling day for purposes of having a peaceful exercise. “We also intend to engage with agents and supervisors of all candidates, to remind them about the election guidelines so we can have a smooth and peaceful exercise,” he said.
The election materials are delivered amid complaints by National Unity Platform- NUP candidate’s camp complained against security agencies for interfering with their last-day campaign program. The Kalangala District Security Committee advised the NUP camp to change the venue of their last campaign activities from Bujumba county, Kalangala’s main island, on grounds that President Yoweri Museveni was scheduled to be in the area to campaign for the NRM candidate Ida Nabayiga.
Goretti Namugga, a NUP campaign coordinators in the area, blamed security agents for cancelling their campaign at the last hour, without minding about the cost implication. “We are disturbed by the panic with which these people are acting; the area is big enough to accommodate all of us; nevertheless, we have delivered the message of change, and people have appreciated it,” she said.
The seat for Kalangala Woman MP fell vacant in April upon the death of Hellen Nakimuli, who had won the general elections conducted on January 15th.Nakimuli had retained the seat on the opposition National Unity Platform-NUP ticket. The contest to replace her has five candidates, including her elder sister, the NUP candidate Irene Nampala, Aidah Nabayiga of NRM, Sharifah Babirye Kaala, Agnes Nassuuna and Hellen Flavia Nagawa, who are independents.
Kalangala district is composed of seven sub counties, 17 wards and 97 villages that are geographically spread on 64 inhabited islands in the Lake Victoria waters-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
