Advert
-->

Persons with disabilities say ongoing voters’ register update is disfranchising  members

News -->
Persons with disabilities say ongoing voters’ register update is disfranchising  members
Yona Wasswa and Cyrus Baker Ssempijja addressing journalists on Wednesday.

The National Council for Persons with Disabilities(NCPD) has said the ongoing voter register update exercise organized by the Electoral Commission has excluded some of their members.

The voters register update exercise that started on January, 20 will end on February around the country.

Addressing journalists at their offices in Kampala, NCPD chairperson, Yona Wasswa said the ongoing exercised being based on parishes disenfranchises some members with disability.

“Some villages are far away from the parish headquarters and this affects persons with disability who have mobility challenges,” Waswa said.

“There is also a problem with access to information for persons with hearing impairments and those who can’t read and write.  This is because at the parish level where the voter register update exercise is being done there are no sign language interpreters.”

Waswa said that absence of sign language interpreters means that persons with disabilities who cant read and write are disenfranchised as they cannot identify their names in the register.

He noted that the application on the Electoral Commission website for location of polling stations is not accessible to persons with visual impairments.

“In order or these people to use this provision, they will need support from other people but this will come at a cost which they don’t have.”

Cyrus Baker Ssempijja, the councilor for persons with disability for Mpigi district said whereas all these challenges were highlighted during the stakeholders’ engagement meetings with Electoral Commission, they have not been addressed.

“When you look at some of the parish headquarters, they are in hilly areas which are difficult to be accessed by persons with disability while others are many kilometres away from villages. This means persons with disabilities require to pay at least shs10,000 to move to the parish headquarters. We had earlier asked Electoral Commission to ensure exercise is done at village level to favour persons with disability but it seems they didn’t listen,” Ssempijja said.

“We appeal to the Electoral Commission  that it is still early to change this establishment to see that the PWDs can be accommodated in this verification exercise.”

The chairperson of the National Council for Persons with Disabilities said they might be forced to take legal action against Electoral Commission if it doesn't act on their concerns.

"As a last resort, we will gather our members to drag the Electoral Commission to court for disenfranchising persons with disability in the forthcoming elections," Yona Wasswa said.

He however urged members to participate in the ongoing voter register update exercise to ensure they can vote for leaders who will front their rights.

Contacted for a comment, Electoral Commission spokesperson, Julius Mucunguzi said they are cognizant of the unique and particular needs for persons with disabilities.

" It is because of this that EC undetook an exercise of mapping persons with disabilities at the end of last year to obtain data about them, where they are , the kinds of disabilities they have and their concerns so that in the planning of our work across the roadmap, those issues  that can be immediately addressed are worked upon. During the ongoing exercise, our officials at the registration centres across the country  have been told that if a person with disability comes you give them priority and assistance in the circumstances they are," Mucunguzi said.

He said there are issues which can be immediately addressed while others require long term planning through more investment in budgets.

"For locations, every  effort has been made to ensure places where update exercise is taking place are accessible, especially for persons with disabilities. Where an issue comes up and the location doesnt meet this requirement, a suitable place is identified."

Mucunguzi said that whereas  the parish might be far from some villages, it is the only practical way the exercise can be undertaken and it is what is in the law.

"The practicability of lowering it beyond parish level at the moment is not provided for. However every effort is being made by the commission to ensure every electoral process is as inclusive and participatory as possible so that no one is left behind."

Reader's Comments

RELATED ARTICLES

LATEST STORIES