Critics unhappy about new Ugandan electoral body

By Halima Athumani

KAMPALA (AA) – Criticism greeted Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s appointment of a new team to run the country’s Electoral Commission on Friday.

In a statement Museveni named a six-man team led by Justice Simon Byabakama.

Their appointment comes just a day after the retirement of a controversial team led by Badru Kiggundu who was at the helm of the commission for 14 years.

Crispin Kaheru -- coordinator of the Citizens Coalition for Electoral Democracy -- argued the framework within which the new team will work is no different to that under which Kiggundu and his team operated.

“We are therefore likely to see the new Commission challenged by the same structural and institutional gaps that the past commission grappled with,” Kaheru told Anadolu Agency.

Kaheru said for the slate to be cleaned, the government must implement comprehensive electoral reforms that civil society, political parties and all other stakeholders have persistently called for.

“What these reforms will do is to strengthen the institutional framework of the Electoral Commission to effectively deliver its mandate without any form of pressure,” he added.