Byabakama said candidates will hold campaign meetings, in a regulated manner, preferably outdoors, with limited attendance of a maximum of 70 persons.
PRESIDENTIAL|ELECTIONS
KAMPALA – The Electoral Commission (EC) has set January 14, 2021, as the presidential polling date, Paul Bukenya the acting spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday (November 4, 2020).
EC earlier announced that Ugandans will go to polls on the same date to elect their Members of Parliament.
EC chairperson Simon Byabakama said processions and public/mass rallies are banned restricting campaign meetings to only 70 persons.
He said following the nominations exercise, the commission has appointed November 9, 2020 to January 12, 2021 for parliamentary candidates to hold their campaign meetings.
The campaign period for City/District Local Government Councils (Lord Mayor/Mayors/Chairpersons and councilors will run from November 9, 2020 to January 18, 2021.
Municipality/City Division Chairpersons and councilors campaign is scheduled from November 9, 2020 to January 23, 2021 whereas Sub County/Town/Municipal Division Chairpersons and councilors start on November 9, 2020 to February 1, 2021.
Flanked by other EC top echelon, Byabakama said all campaign meetings should be held in full observance of measures and guidelines put in place by the Ministry of Health to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“Candidates will be allowed to hold campaign meetings, in a regulated manner, preferably outdoors, with limited attendance of a maximum of 70 persons, to enable the observance of the 2-meters social distancing rule for the persons attending the meeting,” he said.
Campaign guidelines
The commission advised candidates and their agents to identify suitable venues within their constituencies and notify the respective returning officers, who will conduct an inspection together with the Police and the District COVID-19 taskforce to ensure the venue will enable observance of the guidelines issued by the ministry of health.
He, however, warned the Police against interfering with the campaign programs of the candidates provided they adhere to set regulations.
“If you encounter any campaign issue caused by the Police, please let us know. We are in charge of elections, not Police,” he said.
Byabakama however, hastens to add: “We require discipline in this exercise. If some of the political actors had some reasonable dose of discipline, we would not put in place all these restrictions. It is in that context that the commission feels that we should have such tight guidelines and to keep reminding Ugandans that the polls will be held in an environment affected by Covid-19.”
Campaigns shall be conducted between 7:00 am and 6:00 pm candidates and their agents shall not use or publish any language or defamatory words, which incite public disorder, hatred, violence, or which threatens war.
The candidates and venue owners must ensure that the campaign/meeting venues are provided with handwashing facilities and sanitizers and that the supporters attending the campaigns/meetings wear face masks at all times while accessing and exiting the meeting venue.
Candidates and their agents are advised to use non-contact means of communication to interact with the electorate.
These include fliers, leaflets, brochures, posters, billboards and banners; radio and television announcements and talk shows; short messaging services (SMS), voice messaging, and new digital media platforms and websites.
The commission warned candidates who use posters against putting them on road traffic signs and those using banners warned against hanging them on electricity power lines, or in a manner that endangers vehicular traffic and pedestrian movement.
Candidates are allowed to use community-based public address systems between 7:00 am to 9:00 am and 4:00 pm-6:00 pm.
Local Government Council poll dates
Election of councilors for Older Persons, Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), youth representatives to the Sub County/Town/Municipal Division will be held on January 11, 2020.
Election of councilors for Older Persons, Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), youth representatives to the Municipality/City Division is slated for January 12, 2021.
The national conference for the election of Older person representatives, Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) and Workers representatives to Parliament will be held on January 17 and 18, 2021.
District Local Government councils: City Chairpersons, Lord Mayor, Mayors, and Councilors will be elected on January 20, 2021.
The national conference for the election of National Female youth representative to Parliament will be held on January 21-22, 2021.
Municipality/City Division Chairpersons and councilors will be elected on January 25, 2021, councilors for Older Persons to the District Local Government councils and councilors for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) to the District Local Government Councils on January 27, 2021.
Others to be elected on the same day are councilors for youths and workers’ representatives to the District Local Government Councils.
Elections of UPDF representatives to Parliament are scheduled for January 29, 2021, the election of regional youth representatives to Parliament from January 31 February 1, 2021.
Sub County/Town/Municipal Division chairpersons and councilors will be elected on February 3, 2021.
