The Deputy-Chairperson of the Electoral Commission Hajjat Aisha Lubega has said that so far they approved only nine internal election observers to monitor the 2021 general elections.
Ms Lubega said that the approved organisations are those which met the requirements as set by the commission. These include, Intellectual Network Aid Uganda, Uganda National NGO Forum, Northern Uganda Transparency and Accountability Forum (NUTAFO), African Electoral Alliance, Future Africa Mission, Women’s Democracy Network-Uganda Chapter (WDN-U).
Others include Citizens’ Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda, (CCEDU), African Youth Development Link (AYDL). and Alliance for Election Campaign Finance Monitoring (ACFIM).
“There is quite a number pending approval. They have not met the qualifications yet, for example, they had not attached photographs of the would be observers, had not attached their certificates and others,” said.
The announcement of the nine qualified observers comes at a time when the European Union (EU) revealed that that they will not deploy their election observers in the 2021 polls because of the challenges caused by Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, other international election observers like Commonwealth , the African Union, and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) are yet to confirm their participation in the forthcoming elections.
On the other hand, Hajjat Lubega said that accreditation for election observers will be completed in the next two weeks.
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