Hiccups mar voter Uganda's registration exercise

The Electoral Commission is facing setbacks in the registration of voters ahead of the 2011 general elections, its chairman has said.
Dr Badru Kiggundu said yesterday that the commission has only received 2,000 out of the 4,000 update kits needed to cover the 4,000 registration centres.

Firm blamed
Mr Kiggundu, who was meeting a delegation from the Interparty Cooperation at his office in Kampala, blamed the company which was contracted to supply the kits for delaying the exercise, and consequently putting the hopes of about four million eligible Ugandan voters at stake.

“There are areas which did not receive materials,” Mr Kiggundu said yesterday, “We paid for 4,000 units but the supplier could only deliver 2,000. He promised that he would deliver the rest of the units in two weeks but I hear that he has only brought 1,000 units which are also stuck at Entebbe Airport.”

Mr Kiggundu was also tasked by the opposition officials to explain why he went ahead with the exercise well knowing he was incapacitated to manage it, but the EC boss insisted that he was optimistic that the commission would beat the deadline of June 4 for registration of new voters and updating the register.

Accusations
The IPC steering committee Chairman, Mr Patrick Mwondha, alleged the exercise, which kicked off on Monday, was getting messed up deliberately by the government so as to fix in names of supporters of the ruling NRM party.
“I was dismayed when I talked to the returning officer of Bugiri District and he told me that by yesterday, the district had not received any material,” Mr Mwondha said.

To effectively carry out its own monitoring of the exercise, the opposition demanded for the list of all registration centres but the EC boss said the commission is yet to compile any list.
“I want to assure you that there are no games in this exercise,” Mr Kiggundu said.

“This is a new undertaking and we are bound to face challenges. It is not as easy as drinking a glass of water.”
FDC deputy president Salaam Musumba said by Monday evening, Busoga sub-region had not started the exercise because the returning officers lacked the materials.

“We have realised that there is no standard direction on how the exercise is done,” Ms Musumba said