A new Electoral Commission is in place after parliament’s appointments committee cleared President Museveni’s nominees on Monday.
But not everybody is happy. Winnie Kiiza, the leader of opposition, and other opposition MPs boycotted the session, saying they didn’t want to rubberstamp a commission that will not guarantee its independence as demanded by Ugandans through civil society and opposition politicians.
Democratic Party president general Norbert Mao had earlier expressed his concern in writing to the speaker, saying the president’s unilateral appointments had gone against the spirit of the Interparty Organisation for Dialogue (IPOD) meeting in July, during which Museveni committed himself to an inclusive process.
While President Museveni acted within his constitutional mandate, and Justice Simon Byabakama Mugenyi and his team are qualified for the job, it must also be acknowledged that elections involve two or more parties and their faith and trust in the process, and the people behind it, is critical.
Therefore, persistent calls for electoral reform must not be brushed aside. No football player would expect fair treatment in a competitive game where the referee and assistants are appointed solely by the manager of the opposite side.
So far, calls for electoral reform have been met with ridicule or cosmetic changes such as altering the name of the electoral commission to include the word “independent”, while leaving everything else intact, and now the appointment of a judge to head the electoral body. Reform must go beyond that.
For peace and security to be sustainable, a prerequisite for development, elections must be credible. To be credible, the organisers must not only be independent and fair-minded but the actors, more so the ruling party, must act in good faith.
Elections in which the incumbent uses state organs to gain unfair advantage over opponents are recipe for instability. An electoral commission where not just the commissioners but other top leaders are perceived to be partisan is unlikely to deliver free and fair elections.
At the end of the day, a free and fair election must not only be declared so but it must also be seen to be so.