By Frank Kamuntu
Youth leaders representing Civil Society Organisations under the Elections Sub-group including African Youth Development Link (AYDL), as the coordinating entity; Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA Uganda); Rwenzori Peace Bridge for Reconciliation (RPBR) in Kasese; and, Show Abilities Uganda (SAU)-an organization that works for youth with disabilities, and youth in political parties under the Inter Party Youth Platform have called for electoral reforms to favor all the persons with disabilities among other Special Interest Groups.
The youth in a press briefing held at Grand Global Hotel advocated for the inclusion of Persons with Disabilities and youth in Uganda’s electoral process as 2026 electoral season draws closer.
From previous elections, the youth say that there have been a couple of barriers to a free, transparent, and democratic electoral process among them including denial of the right to vote by the Electoral College system.
”The use of a national electoral college as provided by law to elect representatives of PWDs and youth limits their enjoyment of the right to vote. Only a few youths who form the college vote for youth MPs-that is 11 members of youth committees from every district for a college for the election of regional youth MPs. Given their numbers, they are susceptible to manipulation and hence can’t represent the position of the majority of the youth. The system also denies majority youth backup to hold the elected leaders accountable because of the fact that they did not directly vote for them,” said Macxzzon Muhwezi a member of NRM Youth League.
The youth also noted that with regard to PWD MPs, if one is to consider regional balance, the system is not realistic. The elected parliamentary representatives cannot be fairly accountable to their regional constituents/voters since they can always be re-elected by constituents/voters of other regions in subsequent elections.
It’s against the above background that the youth made several recommendations as summarized below;
- Parliament should amend the National Youth Council Act to allow direct youth elections with the aim of amplifying youth voices in electoral democracy. They should also amend the Parliamentary Elections Act with respect to youth MPs and PWD elections to align it with the universal adult suffrage system.
- Secondly, Parliament should review and amend the repugnant sections of the relevant electoral laws to ensure express provisions for regional representation of PWD in parliament.
- High nomination fees for Parliamentary and Local Government candidature
The provision for the nomination fee of 150 currency points1 (UGX 3,000,000/=) is too high to be afforded by ordinary PWDs and youth aspiring to be nominated as a candidate for a Parliamentary election. They say this provision hinders instead of promoting youth and PWDs inclusion in the electoral process. The provision also contravenes Article 32 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda. Affirmative action was not considered when the said nomination fee was provided for under the Parliamentary Elections Act, 2005.
They also want the electoral commission to make proposals to Parliament for consideration of possible amendments such as a waiver or 75% reduction on nomination fee to promote the full inclusion of youth and PWDs in the entire electoral process.
They also highlighted some challenges faced by persons with disabilities and recommended that the Electoral Commission should take the initiative to register all PWD- eligible voters for the purposes of establishing and maintaining a national database of all eligible PWDs voters.
They believe that the above will make it easier for the Electoral Commission to plan appropriately for the electoral needs of PWDs in the country. In addition, they should indicate against the PWDs’ names on the National Voters Register (NVR) the disability category as listed under the provisions of the Persons with Disability Act, 2020, for purposes of addressing the unique disability needs of each PWDs voter.
In conclusion, the youth leaders proposed the above reforms to the government with a view of ensuring the inclusion of youth and persons with disabilities in the electoral processes and also guarantee their right to vote as provided for under Article 59 of the Constitution.
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