The Electoral Commission has kicked off a 10-day exercise to verify and confirm all the administrative units (villages and parishes) across the country.
According to the Chairperson, Electoral Commission, Justice Byabakama Mugenyi Simon, the field exercise will start today, Thursday 17th March 2022 and will be concluded on 26th March 2022 in all districts and cities across the country.
During conduct of the elections of Administrative Units (LC 1 & LC2) and Women Councils and Committees in 2018, the Commission received several petitions challenging the legal establishment of some villages and cells.
There were also disputes about the names and boundaries of some units. The Commission also received complaints about the placement of some villages within particular sub-counties. There was also contestation over some villages located in wild life conservation areas and forest reserves.
The verification exercise is aimed at resolving the above contestations.
The exercise will involve holding consultative meetings with the respective district/city local governments leaders to compare their lists of units with the Commission’s database to confirm their particulars and generate a harmonised compilation.
According to Justice Byabakama, the verification exercise will enable smooth preparations for the conduct of Women Councils and Committees elections (from the village to the national level) scheduled for June-August 2022, and the Administrative Units (LC 1 and LC 2) Elections scheduled for 2023.
The Women Councils and Committees and Administrative Units (LC1 & LC2) Elections OF 2018 were conducted in a total number of 60,800 villages/cells and 8,387 parishes/wards, which have since increased to 10,690 parishes and 70,512 villages.